As most in Arizona know, Terrell Suggs went to Chandler High school and Arizona State. The Arizona Cardinals famously had a chance to draft him in 2003 but did not. Suggs went on to Baltimore and won a Super Bowl and will be a Hall of Famer and now, finally, is an Arizona Cardinal, signing this year.
What struck me during his press conference is when he said he went to Baltimore a kid and came back to Arizona a man. He said: “I had been kind of catered to and spoiled, coming from Hamilton (high school), going to ASU (Arizona State). It was time to go away from home and become a man. It was necessary. I was disappointed then, but it all worked out in the end.” (RC-2).
It makes you wonder if Suggs would be T-Sizzle and a future Hall of Famer if he was drafted by the Cardinals in 2003. Suggs lived in Arizona during the off-season and had an arrest for failing to stop for an accident at 1 a.m. and lost time in 2012 when he tore his Achilles tendon playing basketball with friends.
Would he have been out at 1 a.m. playing basketball with friends in Chandler at the expense of good play for the Cardinals? Was his maturation because of influences like Ray Lewis? Would he have received the same influence and guidance with the Cardinals?
His comments seem to suggest he thought about that scenario.
That is why it is tough to be an Arizona sports fan. There is no reason to believe Suggs would have been as good here, but it doesn’t matter as the Cardinals did not draft him. Either way, disappointing…and no, having him here this year does not make up for it.
