A p ril 21, 2010
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il11
IN S ID E
The Week n Review
E arth D ay
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Suh Could Go No. 1
Former Grant star awaits Thursday’s NFL draft
bv J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
During his four years at the Uni­
versity o f Nebraska, Ndamukong
Suh established him self as a domi­
nant force on the football field as a
defensive lineman, breaking records
and racking up awards.
On Thursday, the former Grant
High School star could become the
number one pick o f the National
Football League draft and by most
accounts will come in no lower than
the number three pick.
Back home where Suh grew up,
he is still remembered as the soft-
spoken and focused student who
was a steamroller on the football
field.
Growing up together, Ngum Suh
remembers eliciting chuckles when
introducing Ndamukong, who mea­
sures 6 foot 4 inches and weighs 300
pounds, as her little brother, whom
she has never considered to be an
“intimidating” person.
She stresses that she would hate
for her brother to be thought o f as a
two-dimensional football player,
who communicates in grunts and
can barely think past the next play.
She remembers him being fascinated
with all things mechanical, and would
bombard airline pilots with ques­
tions on family trips. She also recalls
Ndamukong Suh
another instance where he disas­
sembled the family phone, only to
re-assemble it in complete working
order after drawing the chagrin o f
their mother.
Expectations were high in the
Suh family.
Ngum Suh rem em bers their
Cameroonian father and Jamaican
mother telling them that nothing
comes for free and that academics
always came before sports.
“We didn’t have any excuses to
not do our best or not try,” she said.
During his freshman year at Grant
High School, Ndamukong was kept
from playing sports for the first se­
m ester by his mother, a school
teacher, who wanted to make sure
he transitioned smoothly and stayed
focused on academics, said Ngum.
Ndamukong and Ngum ’s father,
an engineer who goes by “M ichael,”
remembers his son, being quiet and
very large, which drew teasing from
other kids, but never let it take any­
thing away from him.
While playing football at Grant,
N dam ukong Suh, w hose name
means “house o f spears” in his
father’s native language, became
Parade All-American Honors while
playing defense, in addition to earn­
ing the 2004 Portland Interscholas­
tic League Defensive Player o f the
Year and the state Class 4 A Defen­
sive Player o f the Year.
Jacque Sage, the athletics direc-
toratGrant High School, remembers
Suh from his days as a student there
when he played football and bas­
ketball.
“He really grew up in his sopho­
more and junior years,” recalls Sage,
when he developed the focus and
drive that propelled him to where he
is now.
At the University o f Nebraska at
Lincoln, Suh continued to excel rack­
ing up a number o f awards and was
a finalist for the coveted Heisman
Trophy in 2009, while graduating
continued
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Police Union Leader Resigns
Road rage
incidents bring
downfall
Sgt. Scott Westerman, the head
o f the Portland police union, re­
signed on Monday in the wake o f
revelations that he was involved in
two road rage incidents.
Westerman was not on active
duty when he had a January alterca­
tion with Virginia Thompson in
southeast Portland.
A ccording to Thom pson, he
was driving a Grand Prix when he
whizzed by her rental Sm art Car
while exiting 1-84 and then got out
o f his car and approached her
w indow yelling at her to dim her
and approached them screaming
about their lights.
Both incidents are now under
investigation.
The Police Bureau has also come
under scrutiny after it was revealed
that Sgt. Kyle Nice, an officer in­
volved in the 2006 death o f James
Chasse, was involved in a separate
road rage incident in Washington
County.
Scott Westerman (KGW photo)
Westerman has taken responsi­
lights. She said he then flashed bility for his actions.
his police badge and said he could
“My recent off duty behavior
get her arrested.
has added another negative spot­
Just two days later, Thompson’s light to the honorable work being
husband, Jerry, was driving in south­ performed everyday by the men and
west Portland while she was riding women o f the Portland Police Bu­
as a passenger. They say that reau and law enforcement o f the
Westerman pulled up at a stoplight
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on Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway