Former Bucs great Ndamukong Suh, aka Vita Vea’s mouthpiece, once had to set All-World Bucs offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs straight, Suh explained recently.
What exactly irked Suh in 2020, Wirfs’ rookie year, is unclear. But it sounds like it’s tied to when Suh ripped Wirfs’ helmet off in practice.
Suh hopped on his No Free Lunch podcast and recalled how Wirfs needed to learn his rookie place.
“Tristan was a young, hot offensive lineman that came out of Iowa. Very, very talented,” Suh said. “You could see the product of his success even to this day. Like I had to let Tristan know. ‘Like, bro, I’m still big dog on campus. Like this is how it’s going to work and we’re competing against each other, but I want to have quality work. I don’t want to hurt you, and you don’t dare try and hurt me.’
“And I think where Tristan and I eventually had to have a conversation; it was like, ‘Bro, I’m here to make you the best player that you could be. And you can clearly help me become better.’ [Wirfs was] a very unique talent from that perspective. But there’s a line where we stop; we’re still on the same team. And it stays in house; it says here on the field and doesn’t go past that.’ … And I think that’s something that he didn’t really understand early on in our interaction. But obviously that’s water under the bridge, and I think we’ve got a great relationship to this day.”
In 2020, Suh famously was heard mic’d up telling teammates Wirfs needed to get meaner to be great. Meanwhile, Wirfs remained Mr. Nice Guy and became the only man to be named All-Pro at right and left tackle. (See, Vita, Suh’s advice isn’t always golden.)
Joe wonders what Wirfs would say today about the “conversation” Suh referenced.
Suh has a uniquely large ego. That’s understandable, and it makes Jamel Dean embarrassing him in a locker room scuffle more humorous.
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