Waiting for T-Sizzle is a post-game sitcom
There's no show on Earth quite like the one Terrell Suggs puts on before he meets the media after a Ravens game. But yesterday, after his great three-sack, three-forced-fumble performance in the Ravens' 24-10 demolition of the Indianapolis Colts, Suggs was at his zaniest.
The guy came bouncing out of the showers like he was ready to play another 60 minutes of football.
He shouted something to a teammate -- loudly and hysterically profanely -- about a hip-hop song. He shouted to another to make sure the guy gave him his cell phone number before he left. Then he wandered into the knot of media types interviewing Torrey Smith and pretended to be fascinated with the pearls of wisdom emanating from the rookie wide receiver.
Finally, he made his way to his locker, where a large group of reporters waited for him. And as soon as he got there, he grabbed the cell of another teammate and loudly announced: "I don't want to tell you my number. Lemme punch it in so these (very bad hyphenated word, often used to describe the media) don't call me."
And at this point, clad only in a towel, Suggs turned to the assembled media and announced he wouldn't be talking until he got dressed.
Since Suggs, like his idol Ray Lewis, tends to dress like something out of "Guys and Dolls," complete with sharp-looking pin-striped suits and fedoras, waiting for him to dress tends to take a while.
But with suit jacket on and tie perfectly knotted, Suggs was ready to hold court.
To his credit, Suggs deflected a lot of the praise thrown his way by reporters and credited the terrific all-around performance by the Ravens defense.
He talked about whether he was having a career year ("I don't know. It only counts if we get to Indy and the confetti drops.")
He talked about the energy level at M&T Bank Stadium during the game. ("You see when we're out there having fun and M&T is rocking, we're a very tough team to beat.")
And he talked about building momentum for the playoffs. Because perhaps more than anyone else in the Ravens locker room, Suggs focuses on the importance of the Ravens keeping their eyes on the Super Bowl prize and not being satisfied with late-season wins.
"We just have to keep it rolling because, as you've all seen through the years, championship teams, they don't settle for what's happening right now," Suggs said. "Every week, they try to get better, and they try to continue to go and find ways to get on a roll, like we're doing.
"We're doing a lot of things good. but we have to correct things and get better at the things we're not doing so well. We've still got work to do. ... We're still not satisfied. This team is hungry."
And a few minutes later, with a final trademark salute, Suggs was gone, slipping out a side door, presumably headed to a post-game celebration of some sort.
It's the best post-game locker room show in the NFL. And it never disappoints.
Getty photo of Terrell Suggs by Larry French / Dec. 11, 2011






Here's something that has to hearten the Ravens after they watched Torrey Smith light up the Cincinnati Bengals in Baltimore's 31-24 win Sunday: the kid has only just begun to scratch the surface of his enormous potential.
I was asked the million-dollar question this morning on 105.7 The Fan's "Norris and Davis Show": which Ravens team is more indicative of what we have here in Baltimore right now.
It's hard to overstate how important new left tackle Bryant McKinnie was in the Ravens 35-7 beatdown of the Steelers Sunday.
Poor Rex Ryan. If the New York Jets coach would only come out of his shell once in a while.
Ben Roethlisberger had the big, splashy NFL superstar wedding last weekend you expected him to have.
You'll recall that Harrison, the fierce Steelers linebacker, took some shots at Big Ben in a recent Men's Journal article, dissing him for throwing a couple of picks against the Green Bay Packers in the Steelers' February loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Ray Rice was about to begin his post-game remarks after the Ravens' big 30-24 win over the New Orleans Saints Sunday when a handful of reporters began trickling out, headed to the team's locker room for more quotes.
