The Hall awaits: Troy Polamalu was conscience of a dynasty
Roberto M. Esquivel
Steelers safety Troy Polamalu (43) breaks up a pass against the Cleveland Browns receiver in this 2012 无毛视频-Standard file photo. Polamalu was recently elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Roberto M. Esquivel
The Steelers无毛视频� Troy Polamalu is stopped short of the end zone on an interception return against the Cleveland Browns during a Thursday night game, Dec. 8, 2011, in this 无毛视频-Standard file photo. Polamalu was recently elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Mike Logan was the starting strong safety in front of Troy Polamalu throughout Polamalu无毛视频檚 rookie season, and then Logan became Polamalu无毛视频檚 primary backup for the next three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Logan was older and more experienced, but found himself checking in 无毛视频� even spying 无毛视频� on how Polamalu was going about his job.
无毛视频淚 used to peek into the room where he was watching film,无毛视频� Logan said. 无毛视频淚 finally went in and asked him, 无毛视频楾roy, why are you watching tape of the offensive line?无毛视频� He told me he watches all of the tape from all of the angles and that无毛视频檚 how he gets a feel for when, say, to time a jump over the line and stop a quarterback sneak. He just saw how it all was going to happen before it happened. His mind was just amazing.无毛视频�
Was Polamalu a savant? A genius?
Or did he just watch that much tape?
无毛视频淏oth,无毛视频� said Logan, who went on to explain Polamalu无毛视频檚 football angles before coming to the important stuff of our 90-minute interview.
Logan explained how Polamalu changed Logan无毛视频檚 life, about how Logan 无毛视频� who grew up in the rougher neighborhoods of Pittsburgh 无毛视频� began taking after Polamalu by first changing his associations, and then changing his habits. Logan said he wasn无毛视频檛 the only one on the team who fell under Polamalu无毛视频檚 spell, either.
Logan experienced some difficulty transitioning out of football 无毛视频渁nd Troy was the first one to reach out to me.无毛视频� Logan said Polamalu made him a better person, and that even at age 45 Logan finds himself asking, What would TP do here?
Polamalu was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame because of his football genius, but those whom he无毛视频檚 touched rave 无毛视频� absolutely gush 无毛视频� about his humanity.
I remember telling Troy one time about how Heath Miller was just discussing Troy无毛视频檚 humility. A perplexed look came over Polamalu无毛视频檚 face as he tried to explain that Heath was humility personified, that Heath was humility in its purest form. Troy explained that he constantly has to work at his humility, that Heath doesn无毛视频檛 work at it, that he just is.
And Troy was right, because he always had a bit of an edge to him that Heath hadn无毛视频檛.
When I see the old documentary about a young Bob Dylan with his soft, high-pitched voice mocking journalists, I think of Troy mocking us, taunting us, by throwing out lines like he was going to cheat on his wife, or something similarly absurd. He wanted to see if any of us would bite. Yep, that was his opinion of us 无毛视频� and probably the stereotype fits.
Of course, no one did. The idea of Troy stepping out on his wife just made us chuckle a bit, so his ruses never had a chance of becoming clickbait.
I do remember talking with Troy after Super Bowl 43, the one in which the Steelers beat the Cardinals. I had left a room that Snoop Dogg had just entered. He walked on stage, called Mike Tomlin up, the drum started to beat and the crowd became excited as the players and their entourages closed in for a performance.
Not knowing much about Mr. Dogg无毛视频檚 music, I went outside for some fresh February Florida air. I ran into WDVE无毛视频檚 Randy Baumann, and then Troy happened along. I asked him a football question about Larry Fitzgerald无毛视频檚 late touchdown and Troy began explaining the details 无毛视频� rare for him this far out of the locker room. But they did just win their second championship, so Troy didn无毛视频檛 mind discussing a football play one more time that night.
Baumann was taking it all in, and I无毛视频檓 so thankful because he still has those details in his head for my future reference. I, meanwhile, was watching behind Troy the most beautiful woman in the room. She was wearing blue. Dark hair. Elegant. Young. Sweet. She was waiting patiently for Troy to stop talking so she could say hello. When she got her minute, she told him what a fan she was, and asked for a hug. Troy said no thank you.
I may have been more surprised than this young woman, who looked like she had just been told no for the first time in her life. She did a c无毛视频檓on-just-a-hug thing, but Troy smiled and said quietly, 无毛视频淢y heart belongs to another.无毛视频�
Oh, don无毛视频檛 get me wrong. Troy has snapped at me. One time fellow DB Anthony Smith hit Chad Johnson so hard during a game in 2007 that Johnson无毛视频檚 gold teeth tumbled onto the field. Polamalu bent down, gathered them up off the turf and handed them to Johnson after he got up.
I watched through binoculars from the pressbox, received confirmation from Smith that it was teeth, and asked Polamalu about it.
What did you pick up for Chad? Were those teeth?
无毛视频淗is mouthpiece,无毛视频� Troy said.
But Anthony said 无毛视频�
无毛视频淲ell, why did you ask me then?无毛视频� Polamalu bit as he curtly cut me off.
He was caught in a white lie because, as he explained, 无毛视频淚 don无毛视频檛 want it to be a part of a big story, no.无毛视频�
We staggered through a few more questions and Polamalu apologized. 无毛视频淪orry. Bad interview,无毛视频� he said.
I just chuckled because no matter how dull and honest some football interviews can get, Troy Polamalu never gave a bad interview. There was always something interesting in his words, no matter how much he dumbed them down.
Of course, in football, in sports, lying to the press becomes part of a player无毛视频檚 job, and that无毛视频檚 why Troy hated talking about injuries. He would have to tell a white lie at some point, for tactical reasons, and the pain on his face always gave him away.
I figure that无毛视频檚 why I could never get him to talk about the deep details of his life, about his father who left him the day he was born for his other family, about how his mother took him to Oregon and abandoned him at a young age, about his older, taller, equally athletic brother who couldn无毛视频檛 successfully navigate the streets of Santa Ana outside of Los Angeles and came to know more about gang life than team life.
Troy无毛视频檚 not going to lie about them, nor is he going to speak ill of them, so it无毛视频檚 understandable that he doesn无毛视频檛 speak publicly about any of it.
Hey, we无毛视频檙e talking about a descendant of Samoan royalty here. In the new book 无毛视频淭ropic of Football,无毛视频� author Rob Ruck traced Troy无毛视频檚 lineage back to the 无毛视频渢ui Manu无毛视频檃,无毛视频� Samoa无毛视频檚 supreme title-holder whose own lineage is linked to 无毛视频渢he origins of the Samoan people.无毛视频�
Not that we无毛视频檙e surprised Troy Polamalu can be traced to mythological gods, but he would probably snap back at me were he to hear those words. After all, the true Samoan warrior strives for the concept of fa无毛视频檃 Samoa, the gentlemanly behavior old-school islanders seek to achieve. Nor would Troy allow any of that talk of lineage to penetrate his impenetrable faith in Jesus Christ as his savior.
This Hall of Fame stuff no doubt wreaks havocs with Troy无毛视频檚 personal rhythms of fa无毛视频檃 Samoa and Christianity. All he really wants to do is love his family and work in his garden back home in Southern California.
Will he ever return to Pittsburgh?
I have no doubt. He was upset about being released following the 2014 season. He was still sore at ownership about how the previous contract negotiation had been handled, and the release 无毛视频� before he felt his football shelf life had been used up 无毛视频� added to that soreness.
无毛视频淎nd don无毛视频檛 expect me to come back for any of your stuff!无毛视频� Troy told Art Rooney II the day he left Steelers headquarters for the final time.
Troy told me the back story when he called with the news of his retirement. One of his mentors, Dick LeBeau, had done something similar a month or so earlier. LeBeau called a hometown reporter to let him announce LeBeau无毛视频檚 retirement. It was a classy move by a classy guy, and I无毛视频檝e always believed that无毛视频檚 why Troy called me to announce his retirement.
But he didn无毛视频檛 just dump the news on me. He worked with me to ensure that I could hold the story until the time was just right. Troy even called Dan Rooney and asked that he not tell anyone until I released my story.
Yes, THAT无毛视频檚 the kind of person we无毛视频檙e talking about here.
But the beauty of Polamalu is that he sees his flaws. He knows he doesn无毛视频檛 possess the pure humility of a Heath Miller, that he does have angry voices in his mind that must be tamed.
Of course, Heath Miller never became the conscience 无毛视频� the Holy Spirit, if you will 无毛视频� of a football dynasty.
In leading the Steelers to the biggest stage in sports three times during his career, Polamalu also sparred publicly with ownership for letting his first partner, Chris Hope, go. He also sniped publicly with the coaching staff for allowing the offense to change its physical approach into a passing fancy run by young Ben Roethlisberger. Polamalu insisted that it hurt the defense, because, frankly, the defense couldn无毛视频檛 receive the rest required to go back on the field and utilize its Blitzburgh-style mentality on every single snap.
Troy also barked about Alan Faneca not receiving a better contract offer before the greatest guard in team history left in free agency.
But Troy was also the voice who told me to withhold judgment on Roethlisberger after those awful allegations in 2010. It wasn无毛视频檛 that Troy wondered about the truth; he was just 无毛视频渆xcited无毛视频� to see how Roethlisberger would use this crossroad to change his life for the better. And I have no doubt that Troy无毛视频檚 proud of the direction Ben has since taken and the family he无毛视频檚 raised.
Troy Polamalu was about winning, of course, but he was also about humility, redemption, admitting his own flaws, working to fix them, and so much more.
Troy Polamalu wasn无毛视频檛 just the key playmaker of a great team, he was the conscience of a dynasty. He made those around him better players AND better people.
What more can a football player do?