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          NFL Nation

          Terrell Suggs earns a new nickname

          • Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff WriterJan 5, 2015, 11:00 AM ET
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              Jamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.
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          Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs has been known as "T-Sizzle" ever since he joined the team in 2003. Now, he's earned a new nickname after his unconventional interception in the AFC wild-card 30-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.

          Suggs is being called the new Thighmaster. (Visual proof of a thighmaster apparatus).

          Midway through the fourth quarter, Suggs picked off a Ben Roethlisberger pass by catching it between his knees. The throw went through the hands of running back Ben Tate's hands and went right to Suggs, who let the ball slip through his grasp but was able to hold onto the ball while falling to the ground by pinning it with his legs. It's still unbelievable that Suggs never let the ball hit the ground.

          "I knew that Ben had been coming from behind against us for years," Suggs said. "I knew when the play was called to just be patient because he's going to try to make a play. Had I dropped it, ain't no telling what Ben would've done. It was just being in the right place at the right time."

          The Ravens scored on the next play to take a 30-15 lead, which proved to be the knockout sequence in the game. It will go down as one of the most memorable plays in Ravens' playoff history, and coach John Harbaugh later called the interception "the greatest catch in the history of football."

          "You'll never see a greater catch," Harbaugh said. "We just gave him the game ball for the greatest catch in the history of football. I toss it to him. What happened do you think? He dropped it. He caught the one that mattered. Clutch."

          Others took to Twitter and Facebook to laud Suggs for his Thighmaster skills.

          ESPN's Trey Wingo was among the first to make the reference on Twitter:

          The other amazing part about Suggs' interception is that it's his first since 2011. He had gone 48 games since picking off his last pass.

          And his last interception coincidentally came against Roethlisberger. That time, however, he caught the pass with his hands.