Sgt. D.J. Suggs, who serves as a Religious Affairs non-commissioned officer at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), has won more football championships in Las Vegas than the professional team that now plays in that city.
Playing for the Texas All Stars, Suggs’ team absolutely molleywhopped their opponent, the Boykins Youth Foundation (BYF) Elite All Stars last month, by a score of 34-19 to secure the Dick Suess Trophy.
“I have been playing football for 14 years and this was the first All-Star game I have ever played in,” Suggs said. “This meant a lot because I have been waiting for it for a long time. I finally got my chance, so I took it.”
The game was played on Dec. 2, 2023, at Jack Mannon Stadium in Las Vegas, and was one of three games played that day as part of the Minor League Football’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
“We had one goal, and that was to win the trophy and take it back to Texas,” Suggs said. “The game was just like the Hall of Fame Game for professional football, just for the minor leagues.”
Suggs started the game playing outside linebacker, but was quickly switched to defensive end, where he used his speed and quickness to wreak havoc, helping to keep the BYF offense from getting anything going.
A nightmare to block and constantly in the backfield, Suggs finished the game with five tackles, two sacks, one strip sack, one forced fumble and at least eight quarterback hurries. He also had two punts of more than 40 yards.
“I also tried to sneak in on offense, but the coach wouldn’t let me,” Suggs admitted. “He said maybe next year.”
Adding another level of excitement to the game was that it also happened to be part of a friendly rivalry.
Suggs explained that the manager of his team also happens to be the owner and commissioner of the Texas United Football Association, and she was challenged by her friend, who also manages a team in the semi-professional league to see which one of them could put the best team together.
“Every year she looks for players in Texas to join her team,” said Suggs, who was a late roster addition. “She had never seen me play, but I had some guys on the team who vouched for me.”
Suggs said that he trained for several months prior to the game doing shadow boxing, edge rushing drills and running wide receiver routes to stay in shape.
“I don’t stop, I keep going,” Suggs said. “The way I look at it, if you train now, you won’t have to get ready when the time comes.”
As sweet as this victory was for him, this is not the first time Suggs has won a championship in minor league football. It is actually his third in four years.
He won his other two in the state of Washington while stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord playing for the Northwest Hurricanes and the South Sound Seminoles.
“I could have had a third one while I was there, but we lost the game by seven points,” Suggs said. “Plus, it was about 30 degrees when we played the game.”
Although Suggs said he feels like he can continue playing for many more years, he will be hanging up the cleats for a while and will continue coaching all the youth sports on post. Youth Flag football starts in April, so parents are urged to sign up their athletes.
Youths interested in playing can sign up with the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program’s Child Youth Services.
Suggs also plans to coach basketball and baseball later in the year.
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