Ndamukong Suh continually uses his foundation to better the lives of others

At times, when NFL athletes are discussed, it’s often forgotten that these are real people with lives, spouses, families, dreams, and ambitions that stretch beyond the playing field. If you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourselves listening to conversations that have diminished them to being Fantasy football points or an overall/speed rating on Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL game. Then, there are guys like Ndamukong Suh, good people who have never been allowed to grow and learn from mistakes they made when they were still in their twenties.

The Philadelphia Eagles star isn’t at all the same man that he was a decade ago. None of us are, yet, because of a few missteps i.e. personal-foul penalties during earlier stages of his career, he’s never been forgiven in some football circles. Maybe that’s a part of the human condition. It seems unfair. Suh has done much to rehabilitate himself, and in doing so, he’s become a man that spends much of his free time attempting to make the lives of others better.

Ndamukong Suh joins the battle against financial illiteracy.

Here’s a reason to be thankful during the holidays and something to make you smile if you missed it. In the days leading up to another opportunity to commune with family and friends, Ndamukong Suh and his beautiful wife Katya launched the Suh Family Foundation’s $20,000 Financial Literacy Initiative.

The giveaway awarded 20 lucky fans with $1000 each and a free yearlong membership to a leading investment platform. The goal is to ensure their winnings set them up for long-term financial success. They had previously donated $2.6 million to the University of Nebraska and tackled backpack giveaways among other things. The mantra of the Suh Family Foundation would suggest that future drives and positive initiatives are coming:

"Built on a dedication to helping individuals on their journeys towards empowerment, the Suh Family Foundation works with communities to equip people with the resources they need to sustain long-term success.​Founded by Ndamukong and Katya Suh, the Suh Family Foundation works hand-in-hand with communities to supply resources across three pillars that were pivotal to the Suh’s own success: education, health and wellness, and empowerment."

That’s a mighty fine job by a man who was once viewed as the dirtiest player in the game (while many of the people who said that would have taken him on their team in a heartbeat).

Again, the human condition often guarantees that we’ll spend more time discussing what these men do on the field than what they do when they aren’t wearing the pads (unless of course, they do something illegal). Perhaps the time has come to spend more of our efforts on balancing the scales.

After all, we all made mistakes in our younger days. The only difference between Ndamukong Suh and the rest of us is we were able to watch him make many of his mistakes on television.

There are a ton of NFL fans who still haven’t forgiven him for his missteps. To them, he’ll always be the guy that committed all of those personal-foul penalties. To the rest of us, he’s a redemption story of sorts, so while others seek the negative, some of us would rather accentuate some of the positives. Why? Well, the answer to that is a simple one.

The stories about fistfights in practice are written constantly. Meanwhile, stories like these aren’t written nearly enough.