Pittsburgh Steelers’ legendary safety, Troy Polamalu is known for many things—his long flowing hair, his soft-spoken voice, and his humility.
But one thing you never hear said about him is that he had a temper or expressed outbursts of frustration or rage. Everything Polamalu did during a game felt purposeful and measured; everything had meaning. That isn’t to say that he lacked passion or competitive spirit; he had those in spades. He just showed it differently than many other players.
However, Polamalu is apparently human after all, and his former teammate, defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, shared the story of the only time he saw the great safety lose his temper. Polamalu recently joined Heyward’s podcast, Not Just Football With Cam Heyward. The two laughed over memories of the years they spent playing together. Heyward said he only saw Polamalu blow his top once.
“I will say the only time I saw Troy get upset, we were playing Philly and getting blown out. You came to the sideline and was like, ‘We got guys from USC, we got guys from Georgia, and Ohio State and they ain’t doing nothing,'” recalled Heyward.
Heyward said he and Ryan Shazier were looking at each other, dumbfounded. They had both played for Ohio State.
“It was like when I saw Troy, I was like you always knew Troy cared, but when he showed that passion, it was like, ‘Oh we’re going to work after that,’ nothing going to stop that.”
Polamalu said that being a team leader didn’t come naturally to him. He claimed to have always had “little brother syndrome,” where he absorbed all that his teammates had to offer, but didn’t really know how to contribute to the younger generation.
He is grateful for all his teammates “poured into him” and said that players like Ryan Clark, Deshea Townsend, and James Farrior, among others, taught him so much about the game of football.
Polamalu said that football is more than a game of skill, it is a game of character. While in sports like basketball, simply being seven and a half feet tall can be enough to give you an edge. In football, you can have the size or speed, but you have to be able to put that to work for you on the field. You have to have the character to give it all you’ve got. The great ones never stop trying to improve.
Steelers’ Troy Polamalu On The Difference Between Bill Cowher And Mike Tomlin
Polamalu and many of the Steelers of his era often talk about how incredible it was to play for two exceptional head coaches, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. When Cowher retired from coaching in 2007 after 15 seasons with the team and a Super Bowl win, it was hard to imagine that any other coach could fill his shoes.
The team decided to hire a young, innovative defensive coach in Tomlin. Polamalu said that, in many ways, there wasn’t much that was different between the two. They both value physicality, violence, and believe in personal accountability. However, there was one thing that Polamalu said he got from Tomlin that he didn’t get from Cowher: Tomlin attended the defensive back meetings.
He shared that it made a fundamental difference in how he played football. Having a coach who is so talented at reading the field, sharing his knowledge, and showing them how to break down film in new ways and pick apart offenses made him a better player. Polamalu spent more than half of his career playing under Tomlin, and he said he constantly tells young players how lucky they are to have the early part of their careers learning from him.
What was it that made Polamalu so special? Did you ever see Polamalu lose his cool? Click to
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