Shortly before the Lions – Broncos game on Sunday, it was announced that Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh had requested a meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Instead of relaxing on his bye week, Suh will be heading to New York to meet with Goodell to discuss his growing reputation as a dirty player and ask about penalties he’s had in the past. In just his second year in the league, Suh has already been penalized three times for “rough” hits on opposing players.

Suh is a terrifying figure to opposing quarterbacks and many players, and I’m sure he doesn’t mind being seen as such. Problem is, there’s such a huge difference between being rough and tough and being dirty. And Suh wants to make sure he’s not being seen as the latter.

“It’s more or less just to get an understanding of how they want to look at my play,” Suh said after the 45-10 win Sunday. “It’s just an opportunity to have a great dialogue and see what I can take out of the meeting. If it’s nothing, then it’s nothing. If it’s something, then it’s something.”

Though the meeting has been in the works for weeks, speculation that Suh taunted an injured Matt Ryan last week has been a huge topic — one Suh vehemently denies. “Go back and watch the film and then come to me and point to where I made mistakes,” he said. “Point to where I cut somebody, where I hit somebody late in the back. Let me know. I want to see it.”

Head coach Jim Schwartz is also expected to be at the meeting and it’s likely they will both speak to the recent “Good vs. Evil” depiction given to Sunday’s game against the Broncos.

“I don’t think that’s appropriate at all for anybody associated with the game to bill it that way and it was especially disappointing coming from an arm of the N.F.L.,” Schwartz said. “It wasn’t a rallying cry or anything else but it was disappointing and I don’t think it was appropriate. We are trying to win games. We’re certainly not trying to market ourselves that way.”

Suh also commented on it saying:

“Evil prevails and hopefully we are going to continue to keep it that way if that’s (how) they want to perceive us,” Suh said. “For me personally, it means nothing to me. I’m going to continue to be me. I know who I am. I’m not an evil person.”

As a fan of the Lions I may be biased, but I can honestly say I have never seen Suh act “dirty.” He plays the game of football like it should be played — hard. He’s not throwing punches after the whistle is blown, he’s not gauging players’ eyes out underneath piles, he’s making tackles. Period.

Not sure what will come of the meeting, but like Suh said, if something or someone benefits from it, great. If not, oh well. Either way, he’s going to continue to wreak havoc in the National Football League. And that’s all that really matters.

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