Ndamukong Suh's new web site, Suh90.com, is open for business. In a flash (hyuk!), the web site provides a pretty complete view of Ndamukong Suh, the man and football player. Links all around provide background information, including his Husker career and awards and information about the Ndamukong Suh Family Foundation. Obviously there's not much to his NFL career, but more content will be added as his career moves on, such as a video of him ending Brett Favre's career by squashing him and then squeezing him into a tiny little ball when the Lions play the Minnesota Vikings on September 26th.
Suh has already mastered social media, providing links to his twitter account, Facebook page, and Youtube channel and the art of selling himself without having yet played a single down in the NFL. That's one damned smart defensive lineman.
I do have some complaints about his site. When the site first loads, the user is treated to introductory audio that's supposed to sound ominous, foreboding, as if something monstrous is approaching. I hate it. Web sites that play audio automatically when they're loaded should be taken off the internets. The site features several videos that auto-play, which doesn't bother me so much, again, if the audio doesn't play automatically.
Picky? Not really. There's nothing that says "I"m not working" like a web site that announces someone is using it, so if you're going to Suh's new web site while at work, turn your sound all the way down before you get there.
Oh, and don't bother with your iPhone or iPad. The site is about 100% Flash, so you'll see a black page and nothing more. (Ironic? Read on.)
In other Suh news, the University of Nebraska athletic department announced that they've installed Apple iPads into each player's locker. They're mounted, not mobile, for reasons that only a compliance officer could understand. That's 123 iPads, purchased (but not personally installed) by Suh.
The iPad news invoked a "get off my lawn" reaction until I read Randy York's article, pointing out that the iPads will provide an unavoidable communication link to each and every player on the team. Players will have no excuses about not seeing an email from their coach,
If it sounds like overkill, consider that the keyword in the above paragraph is "unavoidable". Communication is key to the efficient and productive operation of any organization - do you know of any that don't have reliable email and/or calendaring systems in place these days?
I've been so inspired by that concept I'm thinking of getting one for each of my three children. Not to carry around, mind you, but to mount on the doors of their bedrooms. Each one could list their daily chores, upcoming homework assignments, soccer schedules (three of them now playing competitive), and encouraging messages from their loving mother and father.
(Dear oldest son..... If you can't decide which college you wish to attend, there's always the Armed Services. Remember, your room is scheduled to become a Husker shrine right after you move out. I'd recommend the Air Force. Love, Dad)
Oh, and the iPads provide that "Wow" factor that's important to recruiting, and Nebraska is the first college or professional team to use iPads in such a manner. No doubt others will imitate that soon.
Back to Suh.
Despite a new web site depicting him in a Lions uniform, he's not yet a Detroit Lion. I don't doubt that Suh wants to get into training camp as quickly as possible, but he has not yet (as of this morning) signed a contract, which has caused some consternation amongst the Lion faithful (of which it turns out, there's more than I thought).
NFL contract negotiations are slow this year, apparently because everyone is sure there's going to be a lockout in 2011, and owners aren't sure they want to give out all that cash. #1 pick Sam Bradford and #3 pick Gerald McCoy have signed, with Bradford getting six years and $78M, $50M guaranteed, and McCoy getting 5 years, $63M and around $35M guaranteed.
Now that those deals are done, expect a Suh deal sometime soon. He's stated that he didn't want to hold out, and given that the guy's track record of doing what he says he'll do, it's just a matter of time.
Funny thing about Suh's Husker bio on Suh90.com - 2007 doesn't exist. Can't say I blame him, most Husker fans would like to forget 2007 ever happened. Here's to hoping that he can help turn things around for the Detroit Lions. Michigan could use something positive.