PA Season Ticket Holder
04-15-2003, 04:48 PM
April 14, 2003) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ' defensive domination of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII inspired Terrell Suggs.
As a defensive end at Arizona State, Suggs took considerable pride in the fact that the guys on his side of the ball received the lion's share of glory in the biggest game of them all. Instead of a quarterback, the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player was a defensive back -- Dexter Jackson.
"Everyone wants to draft a quarterback," Suggs says, realizing that his year probably won't be an exception with USC's Carson Palmer a favorite to become the first pick. "Well, defense wins games. Offense gets the glory. But offenses have never had names like the Steel Curtain, you know what I'm saying?"
Loud and clear.
But what also is evident about this year's draft is that, while a quarterback might again be the top overall choice and a pair of receivers (Charles Rogers of Michigan State and Andre Johnson of Miami) are expected to be taken high, several defensive players are projected to be selected within the first 10 picks. Suggs is one of them.
He is considered a high-impact, game-changing player with exceptional quickness to rush the passer. Suggs, who is entering the draft as an underclassman, had an NCAA-record 24 sacks last season, seven more than the national standard former Syracuse defensive end Dwight Freeney had set in 2001. And he was just as dominant in collecting postseason honors, receiving the Lombardi, Ted Hendricks and Bronko Nagurski awards.
http://nfl.com/draft/story/6315567
As a defensive end at Arizona State, Suggs took considerable pride in the fact that the guys on his side of the ball received the lion's share of glory in the biggest game of them all. Instead of a quarterback, the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player was a defensive back -- Dexter Jackson.
"Everyone wants to draft a quarterback," Suggs says, realizing that his year probably won't be an exception with USC's Carson Palmer a favorite to become the first pick. "Well, defense wins games. Offense gets the glory. But offenses have never had names like the Steel Curtain, you know what I'm saying?"
Loud and clear.
But what also is evident about this year's draft is that, while a quarterback might again be the top overall choice and a pair of receivers (Charles Rogers of Michigan State and Andre Johnson of Miami) are expected to be taken high, several defensive players are projected to be selected within the first 10 picks. Suggs is one of them.
He is considered a high-impact, game-changing player with exceptional quickness to rush the passer. Suggs, who is entering the draft as an underclassman, had an NCAA-record 24 sacks last season, seven more than the national standard former Syracuse defensive end Dwight Freeney had set in 2001. And he was just as dominant in collecting postseason honors, receiving the Lombardi, Ted Hendricks and Bronko Nagurski awards.
http://nfl.com/draft/story/6315567