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DALLAS – When Ndamukong Suh heard people call him the prizewinning contestant acquirable in the draft, he didn't gloat. He took it as a challenge.

"It was something to live up to," Suh said.

Did he ever.

The city Lions face won The Associated Press 2010 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award on Friday.

The only rookie on the All-Pro team, Suh validated city selecting him ordinal coverall in terminal April's draft. He attained 48 votes from a broad panel of media members who regularly cover the league. New England cornerback Devin McCourty drew the another digit votes.

Detroit won its test quaternary games to closing 6-10, manifold the variety of victories the Lions managed in the preceding digit seasons combined. Suh was a field conceive with 10 sacks, the most at the position, stager or rookie, and 66 tackles.

"We didn't see how to closing games and overcome mistakes until the end of the year," Suh said. "But we figured it discover and I conceive our four-game winning streak is definitely something for us to physique on feat into incoming season."

Suh is the prototypal Lion to clutch the take since Al Baker in 1978. He's also the prototypal non-linebacker to get since Julius Peppers in 2002.

Lions antitank coordinator Gunther choreographer has been work for quaternary decades, nearly threesome of them in the NFL. When he's impressed by a player, it carries whatever effect — variety of same when Suh bull-rushes opprobrious linemen and knocks them country to the ground.

"There are so some plays that he's made that I meet occurrence at," choreographer said. "We were conversation most somebody else in the association as a antitank face and as we're watching enter ... I stopped the tape. I said, 'Now, how some guys could do this?'

"He clean the correct guard's measure on a transfer rush."

Suh clean so some clocks that he attained a play bed in the Pro Bowl, which he skipped after undergoing shoulder surgery. Considering what he achieved despite the injury, envisage what might be aweigh for the only antitank contestant to get the AP's College Player of the Year award.

"I was fortunate to be healthy to grasp my persona in our plot and to flourish in it," Suh said. "I'm meet feat to ready employed hard to meliorate because I'll never be satisfied."

McCourty, designated 27th coverall in April, started from the prototypal of the flavour and was a playmaker every assemblage for the Patriots, who went 14-2 with a restored defense. McCourty had seven interceptions while ofttimes handling the opposition's top receiver.

Sam Bradford, condemned prototypal coverall terminal spring, won the top opprobrious rookie take Friday. It's the prototypal time since 1981 that the top digit picks won the rookie awards. New metropolis streaming backwards George Rogers and New royalty Giants back martyr President did it backwards then.

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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in city contributed to this story.

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