ASU’s 50 Best Professional Athletes: No. 8 Football’s Terrell Suggs

There may not have been a more dominate football player in the state of Arizona than Terrell Suggs. The Chandler, Ariz., native played both running back and defensive end for Hamilton High School before joining the Arizona State Sun Devils in 2000.

Suggs tallied 2,274 yards and 26 touchdowns on 297 carries as a senior in high school but it is on the defensive side of the ball where he made noise for the Sun Devils.

As a junior in 2002, Suggs broke the NCAA record for sacks in a season with 24 while also posting a nation-leading 31.5 tackles for loss.

That season he won Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, the Bronko Nagursi Award, the Bill Willis Trophy and the Ted Hendricks Trophy as the nation’s top defensive end.

Suggs was selected by the Baltimore Ravens with the 10th overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. He immediately made an impact as Raven, collecting 12 sacks and earning Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2003. Suggs earned his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2004 after racking up 10.5 sacks and 48 tackles.

Aside from 2004, Suggs has made the Pro Bowl in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. In 2011, Suggs took home NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors after amassing 50 tackles, 14 sacks, seven forced fumbles and two interceptions. He has twice made an All-Pro team (2009, Second Team, 2011 First Team).

In 2015, Suggs tore his Achilles in Week 1 against the Broncos and did not play the rest of the season. He is just making his way back to practice a few weeks into training camp.

For his career, Suggs has racked up 106.5 sacks, 25 forced fumbles and over 500 tackles.