As roughly a dozen cameras waited to capture the first images of Terrell Suggs walking back onto the practice field for the first time since tearing his Achilles tendon, the 2011 Defensive Player of the Year saw it as a great opportunity to play a practical joke.
At the Under Armour Performance Center, players routinely exit the locker room and walk through double doors on their way outside to the practice field. In an effort to not have a major dead patch of grass on the highest traction area on the field, the Ravens installed a green turf walkway in which everyone walks on as they head in and out of the facility.
For Suggs return, every camera operator thought Suggs would take the same path as his teammates, but they were all mistaken.
Minutes after waiting for his entrance, Ed Reed’s laugh could be heard from the other side of the practice field as he and Suggs walked out of a shed which normally houses the team’s never-ending supply of Gatorade and other drinks.
Reed and his fellow teammates got a good laugh as the cameras scrambled to get closer for their “B-roll” footage of Suggs.
While many thought Reed was the culprit of the prank, Ray Rice entered the field a few minutes later saying that he saw the cameras and tipped off Suggs for the joke.
Rice uttered something along the lines of, “It’s not a red carpet, it’s a green carpet. There’s too many cameras here for a green carpet,” he said jokingly.
Suggs may still be weeks away to provide relief to a struggling defense on the field but at least he’s up to his usual ways of comic relief around his teammates.
At a time where there has been plenty of frowning due to recent events, it was good to see everyone crack a smile.
