Like Karras Did, Suh Dominates In Trenches for Lions

The greatest defensive tackle in Lions history had a nose for the quarterback. He had to, because he couldn’t see the passer. Alex Karras, the Golden Greek (aka Tippy Toes), had the eyesight of Mr. Magoo but the olfactory nerves of a shark in blood-tinged waters Karras was a wrestler at the University of Iowa, and he used that experience to break free of pass protectors through the use of agility and leverage. Amazingly, it was Karras who initially feared for his own safety. “I learned at a very young age,” Karras once told NFL Films, “that if I ever lined up to do battle…that I could get hurt!” Karras joined the Lions in 1958 as a rookie from Iowa, when the Lions were defending league champs. Needless to say, no other rookie has joined the team under those circumstances since then. He came into the NFL with Wayne Walker, the linebacker from Idaho. Together they were part of some very good defenses in Detroit, often when the offense was nowhere nearly as competent. But that w...