I’ve played 13 years in the NFL and won Super Bowl – I love my new career in England and working with my hands
NDAMUKONG Suh has spent his whole career working with his hands to tear NFL quarterbacks to the ground.
But the defensive juggernaut, 37, loves using them in his other career as well.
Suh is one of the best players of his generation and won the Super Bowl in 2021.
He joined forces with Tom Brady at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to guide them to American football's biggest prize.
The 37-year-old is yet to call time on his career, but is loving his new ventures which sprawl into Europe.
He is currently working for Sky Sports on their coverage of the NFL playoffs.
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Reflecting on his Super Bowl win, Suh told SunSport: "It was honestly just one of the biggest weights lifted off my shoulders.
"I saw the writing on the wall and why I went to Tampa Bay in 2019.
"They had an elite group of offensive players and an had an elite defensive front seven.
"We added a couple young pieces in the secondary and won a championship from there.
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"Tom Brady brought continuity, determination, focus, and a heavy drive in being successful to the offence.
"I felt like I brought that on the defensive side of the ball with the tenacity and grit and grind.
"Everybody sees the offence score points and do all these amazing things and you definitely want that but, in the playoffs, defences win championships."
Suh was speaking from Sky's new NFL studio in west London, which features an LED floorboard, augmented reality graphics and a virtual reality stadium canopy roof.
He said: "I’m loving every bit of it, I want to make this an annual thing for me, whether it’s for October games and playoffs.
"I love being in the city of London, it reminds me of being home in Portland, Oregon - dreary and grey during the winter months."
The 37-year-old also conceded that he'd be open to a full-time career in the media.
But his passion outside of football is in real estate and hospitality where he has more than 20 business holdings, according to his website.
His love for business runs in the family after his dad was a mechanical engineer, which led to him studying engineering and construction management.
Suh said: "I love real estate. I love buildings and having the opportunity to work with my hands, design and create amazing buildings.
"I’m in the hospitality space as well, growing different concepts and rolling them out, whether they’re in stadiums or just brick and mortar in general.
"Business, to me, is fun. It keeps me busy, it keeps me up at night, but in a good way.
"I love doing business, I have business over in the UK and Europe so it’s a good opportunity to have multiple things going at once and it’s also a good break from the States."
The defensive tackle earned £133m and won plenty of accolades on the field.
And he has high hopes for his career in real estate as an investor.
He said: "Being multi-faceted and not seen as just an athlete is something hugely important for me.
"I’m excited to hopefully get into the collegiate world and especially with all these big NIL deals.
"I always wanted to be successful in sports and I think I’ve been able to accomplish that and I want to continue to be able to accomplish that in different ways."
Suh added: "People can take sports away from you.
"You can be fired, you can be cut, but nobody can take away your knowledge, your ability to influence other people and create jobs and opportunities for others.
"I’ve been an anomaly playing 13 years in this league, potentially a bit more if I decide to keep playing.
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"But ultimately, two and a half years is the average career, you’ve got to find something else to do in life at 25 or 26."
Tune in to the NFL divisional playoff round live on Sky Sports NFL. The team will be on air from 8.30pm Saturday and 7pm on Sunday.
