Chicago Bears defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff has been suspended by the NFL for the first 3 games of the NFL season.
Ratliff's suspension is due to his guilty plea in his April DWI case. A guilty plea will often get the player in question fined or suspended. The Bears were hoping the former Cowboy could help solidify their defensive line however that should not begin to happen until Ratliff is back. Ratliff will be suspended for contests against the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks.
Ratliff has excelled with the Bears however now he will have to deal with playing catch up with the rest of his teammates. Ratliff at 33 is a veteran who was one of the few defensive players to secure their spot with this new coaching regime. Ratliff stated after practice,
"It's tough to sit out any game for any reason, of course, a situation like this doesn't make it any easier. But I'm going to do what I have to do, and I'll come back Week 4 and be ready to play. There's a lot of things I could be doing to help myself, help the team. That's what I'm going to focus on. This is probably, what, two, three years ago? That's all behind me. This is the result of it, and just moving forward from here."
