Why Ed Reed is wrong when he says Ndamukong Suh is 'disrespecting the game of football'

Unless you recently moved to planet Mars, you've heard about the most recent news surrounding Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. First, he was suspended one game for his stepping on Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Then, the ban was lifted via appeal which means the beastly Suh will suit up during the Wild Card Round against the Dallas Cowboys.

One guy who's not a fan of the controversial Suh is former Baltimore Ravens safety, and future Hall of Famer, Ed Reed.

On the most recent episode of Showtime's Inside the NFL, Reed had plenty to say on the topic, via Pro Football Talk:

“When you have stuff like this in the game, that shouldn’t be tolerated,” Reed said on the long-running show. “He probably should have [been suspended more than one game] because of the things that he’s been doing up to this point – kicking guys and really disrespecting the game of football and the brotherhood that we have. Some things you just don’t do.”

The very interesting thing here is Reed's history as a player. There have been a few occasions where he found himself in a chair at the bad-boy office for questionable hits. He was a vicious hitter, and the possible consequences would arise naturally.

Just like Suh, Reed has also had a one-game suspension lifted by appeal's man Ted Cotrell.

If Reed is coming from a football purists point of view, thinking hard football hits like the ones he got him into trouble are different than the unsavory tactics Suh performs, then he's missing the mark. Because if that's the case, then Reed should be pointing the finger at so many of our game's greats like "Mean" Joe Greene, Jack Tatum, Bill Romanowski and the entire 70's Oakland Raiders.

All of the above performed even worse tactics and are revered in the history books for it. Meanwhile, Suh, is getting crushed simply because technology catches everything and the era for which he plays in is different.

For all the dirty tactics Suh gets vilified for, the previously mentioned Steelers defensive lineman and Hall of Famer "Mean" Joe Greene was that much worse.

Greene used to destroy people, physically and mentally, and not always during the whistles. To this day, Greene fully admits to using tactics that would today be perceived as dirty. His frustration would always get the best of him and it showed when the few cameras that were around those days caught it.

However, for all of his unsavory ways, he became a revered figure in the sport of football and in this country.

The question becomes why does Suh get hammered so much in this day and age when this kind of thing was prevalent during the 70's?

The answer is simple. Suh is not "disrespecting the game of football" like Reed says. It's that our new rules, and new attitude about the game is disrespecting it. It was due to guys like Greene, and Tatum, and Lyle Alzado why this game got the attention it did, and now that Suh doesn't even do half the things they did he becomes public enemy number one.

The game has softer by the year, and guys like Suh don't fit in anymore.

Reed needs to blame technology and our new way of thinking for "disrespecting the game," not Suh.