Ndamukong Suh was slapped with a massive $100,000 fine Tuesday for an unnecessary roughness penalty in Sunday's 34-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
On Wednesday, the Detroit Lions pass rusher said the NFL-imposed punishment won't impact his aggressive style of play.
"Really you just play football, that's all I can do," Suh told reporters. "... I don't change, I'm going to always play tough, hard, that's the way I was brought up at Nebraska, where I really learned football from the Pelinis and that staff and continue to play hard, play blue-collar football."
Suh was flagged for a personal foul after barreling into Vikings center John Sullivan with a hit to the knees. Sullivan wasn't seriously hurt, but on Monday, he called for "consequences when guys don't respect the careers of other players."
"I think it's just, player safety is the league's concern," Suh said. "You've got to only respect it, and that's one of the reasons I spoke to Sullivan as we walked into the halftime, and he understood where I was coming from. No hard feelings and same thing if he cut me so forth, so on, no hard feelings and go from there."
The $100,000 fine is the largest financial docking for an on-field violation (outside of lost suspension money) in NFL history. Suh plans to appeal it, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday, and the pass rusher isn't preoccupied with how his reputation will impact the process.
"That's not my decision," Suh said. "I don't really have an opinion on it ... just going through the appeals process and we'll go from there."
The five-year, $60 million rookie contract that Suh signed in 2010 includes $40 million in guarantees. The NFL can trumpet itself as taking a hard-line stand, but $100,000 is a slap on the wrist for a man with Suh's bank account. It won't change his behavior -- he said so himself.
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