Detroit Lions defensive end Ndamukong Suh and Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler are the two least-liked players in the NFL, according to a list published by Forbes magazine on Wednesday.
Suh and Cutler made news Monday night on a hard tackle by Suh on Cutler, who suffered bruised ribs, left the game briefly, only to return to lead the Bears to a 13-7 win. Cutler has said repeatedly since the game that he did not feel Suh’s tackle was dirty or out of line.
The Forbes list was based upon a survey of fans by Nielsen and E-Poll Market Research. But rather than results based upon how many fans hate a specific player, this poll ranked a player’s popularity on the percentage of fans who either responded with a “like” or “like him a lot.”
As it turns out, fans voted that way in favor of Suh equaled only 19 percent, meaning that 81 percent of fans did not like Suh, who has developed a reputation in the NFL as a player who plays dirty. He also has ran afoul of the NFL several times for hits in games, drawing various degrees of punishment or discipline from the league as a result. Perhaps the most notable incident was last Thanksgiving when he stomped on the Green Bay Packers’ Evan Dietrich-Smith, resulting in a two-game suspension handed down by the league to Suh.
Cutler, meanwhile, received only 21 percent of “like” or “like him a lot” voting, meaning 79 percent of fans were not in favor of him. Following Cutler were Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (23 percent), San Francisco 49ers receiver Randy Moss (24 percent) and Oakland Raiders quarterback Matt Leinart (26 percent).
The rest of the top 10 of least-liked players were Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Tony Romo and Kyle Orton, the New York Jets’ Santonio Holmes and Mark Sanchez and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Matt Cassel.
On the flip side, the most-liked player in the NFL was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Troy Polamalu with a 63 percent favorable “like” or “like him a lot” ranking, followed by a tie between New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees and the Green Bay Packers’ Charles Woodson (both 62 percent), the Denver Broncos’ Peyton Manning ranked fourth (59 percent) and Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was fifth (58 percent).
The most popular players from sixth through 10th were the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski, the Washington Redskins’ Robert Griffin III, Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, the Packers’ Donald Driver and the Lions’ Matthew Stafford.