Damukong Suh has just half an hour to talk—sort of. The former Nebraska football and NFL star defensive lineman has given countless interviews since emerging as a national prospect two decades ago. Recently, though, these sessions have required next-level multitasking.
On this typical weekday morning, Suh spoke while engaging in a home workout, preparing for a professional career that may still hold another chapter. One of his twin 3-year-old sons, Kingston, wandered in to see what his dad was up to. The conversation flowed from past football glories to real estate development to his foray into broadcasting.
At 37, Suh is pursuing much more than just quarterbacks. “I’ve got my hands on a bunch of different things,” he said. “I love learning; I love being able to be creative and add value to different businesses.”
This weekend, however, Suh will again be a Blackshirt first. He is one of six former Huskers from various sports set to be inducted into the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame during his first trip back to Lincoln since May 2023.
Suh plans to throw the bones and tour a campus and athletics facilities that have drastically changed since his last college season in 2009, when he was a Heisman Trophy finalist and a force on one of the most dominant NU defenses of the 21st century. He’ll reminisce about beating Missouri as a senior and his pick-six against Colorado as a junior, when he bulldozed the quarterback on his way into the Memorial Stadium end zone.
“Every single time I’m presented something of this nature, it’s something we soak up as a family,” Suh said. “Not everybody is fortunate enough to have great athletic careers and at the same time be part of a great state like Nebraska.”
Suh met his wife, Katya Leick, a former Nebraska women’s basketball player, in Lincoln. His relationship with former NU staffer and businessman Joe Moglia ignited his passion for finance, while the work ethic he learned under coach Bo Pelini has stayed with him throughout his 13 stellar NFL seasons, including a Super Bowl title with Tampa Bay in 2021.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule noted that Suh represents everything he hopes for current Huskers—a football change agent whose purpose extends far beyond the sport.
“It’s really a great powerful message when your players see that the best days of their lives are not their recruiting rankings and are not how they were drafted,” Rhule said. “Each thing should be better than the last, and life after football should be the ultimate.”
Super Bowl LVII in February 2023 remains Suh’s most recent appearance on the field, when he and the Philadelphia Eagles lost to Kansas City by a field goal. While he had opportunities to play last season, he said none made sense for his family at that time. Nevertheless, he still trains as if he could line up somewhere next Sunday.
“I have always said the door is always open,” Suh stated. “Will I accept an offer and move forward with anything? Only time will tell.”
Despite not missing being part of a team—he’s still part of many—Suh works as a part-time analyst with Sky Sports, expecting to cover all NFL games in the United Kingdom this season. Since college, he has ventured further into hospitality, becoming a co-owner of numerous local food chains in Portland. Through his Generals Restaurant Group, he manages other establishments across three time zones.
The primary Florida resident, with estimated career NFL earnings over $168 million, is also investing in technology and real estate, advocating for affordable housing.
Former teammates used to jokingly challenge Suh, recalling the time 6-foot-1 cornerback Prince Amukamara offered to box the 6-foot-4, 300-pounder in a makeshift ring back in 2009. The sparring session lasted one punch—“He balled up in the corner pretty quickly,” Suh recalled with a chuckle.
Suh continues to receive callouts from people unaware of his stature—in the business community, from high schoolers after team talks, and at philanthropic events. Sometimes, he allows them to “feel a little” of his strength. “It’s more fun to mess with their heads than to overpower their bodies,” he said. “I try to show them from a technique perspective that it’s not always about brute strength; it’s about the mind and the combination of experience that can take me over the hump.”
This Saturday, he’ll watch Nebraska’s game, relishing the chance for bragging rights over business partners who support Rutgers. He’ll also catch up with Dominic Raiola, a former offensive lineman and his practice partner when they were Detroit Lions teammates from 2010 to 2014. Suh considers current Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola “a nephew,” having watched him grow up during those five seasons. They still exchange messages.
“I always give him a hard time like, ‘I may hit you just for the hell of it because I don’t like quarterbacks,’” Suh joked. “But I obviously care a lot about him and think he’s doing an amazing job. He’s got a lot of room to grow, but I love to see where his trajectory is going so far.”
Living a multifaceted life brings daily rewards for Suh—husband, father, mentor, businessman, broadcaster, and, for now, a football player still going strong after six knee surgeries, a shoulder operation, and countless dislocated fingers.
This weekend, he’ll don the No. 93 red jersey once again. “I could go out there and beat a 25-year-old right now if I wanted to,” Suh said. “Overall, at 37, I still feel really good.”
(Credit: Evan Bland, Omaha World Herald)
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