Inside The Vikings

Terrell Suggs, Former Teammates Pay Tribute to Chris Doleman

The Vikings legend was a beloved man and will be dearly missed.
Will Ragatz|
Terrell Suggs, Former Teammates Pay Tribute to Chris Doleman
Terrell Suggs, Former Teammates Pay Tribute to Chris Doleman

Terrell Suggs grew up wanting to be like Chris Doleman.

Growing up in St. Paul, Suggs spent his childhood watching and cheering for the Vikings in the early 1990s. He was drawn to the players on the defensive side of the ball, but none stood out to him more than Doleman. When it came time for Suggs to pick a position and a number as a kid, he chose to follow in his favorite player's footsteps.

"Chris Doleman, he's one of my childhood idols," Suggs said at a pre-Super Bowl media session on Wednesday morning. "He was the first reason coming out I always wanted to wear 56. I wore 56 in pee-wee football because of Chris Doleman. He was all part of that Tony Dungy defense."

"I've never met him, but he was definitely one of my childhood idols. Him, Henry Thomas, John Randle, Roy Barker, Jack Del Rio, that was a legendary defense to me. He was one of the reasons I started playing football. He's a main reason I played defensive end."

Doleman passed away on Tuesday night at the age of 58 after a two-year battle against brain cancer. He was a 2012 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and one of the greatest defensive ends who ever lived. Doleman, who spent ten of his 15 NFL seasons (1985-1993, 1999) with the Vikings, ranks fifth on the all-time leaderboard with 150.5 sacks.

Suggs ended up becoming a lot like his childhood idol. His family moved away from St. Paul – where he had been youth football teammates with Joe Mauer – when Suggs was entering high school. He went on to star at Arizona State and become, like Doleman, one of the best pass-rushers of all time. Suggs spent his first 16 seasons with the Ravens, began this year with the Cardinals, and is now preparing to play in Super Bowl LIV with the Chiefs.

The 37-year-old Suggs has 139 career sacks, just 11.5 behind Doleman. He's eighth on the all-time list and is the only active player in the top 25. If he returned to the NFL next season and got at least three sacks, he'd move into sixth place, one spot behind the man he grew up watching.

Hearing the news of Doleman's passing was difficult for Suggs. It was even tougher for former teammates who had relationships with Doleman. Many used social media on Wednesday to remember him and express their condolences to his family.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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