PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Troy Polamalu had amazing skills, but he needed the right relationship with the right coach for him to flourish. He didn't just have one, but two of those bonds in the NFL.
The first four seasons with Bill Cowher, overcoming a difficult rookie year.
"He helped develop me as I matured into adulthood and really played a big father-figure in my life like Coach LeBeau," Polamalu said. "Really to have that confidence instilled in you by a Hall of Fame coach. Not only that, but he's from Pittsburgh and he really embodies that blue-collar mentality as well."
"To not only have sort of influence early in my career, it's also an honorable virtues that Pittsburgh stands by. Blue-collar work ethic, not letting the environment control factors of adversity. Those factors you really learn living in Pittsburgh."
"Drafting him and kind of bringing him in that first year," Cowher remembered. "Seeing where he was, we threw a lot of things at him. Watching him evolve as a player, he was a special player. He's a very unique guy. A presence on the field. A guy you had to gameplan for. A guy at time you did not want to harness."
"The more you got to know Troy, there was always a reason behind the things that he did. Just a good guy too."
That blueprint of not harnessing Polamalu set before Mike Tomlin got there. But Tomlin was wise enough not to change it.
"He is a deep guy, but also a very warm and welcoming guy," Tomlin said he learned about Polamalu quickly. "We had good talks about football and about life."
Tomlin had the last eight seasons with Troy including a pair of seven interception years. A year of five forced fumbles, 17 passes defended. Each coach won a Super Bowl thanks in part to Polamalu.
"Spectacular," Tomlin said. "Gold jacket worthy. It makes you smile because you think back to stories and you get an opportunity to share some of those stories with the guys that play here now."
"I'm dumbfounded that I'm 40-years-old now and that he was 34-years-old as a head coach," Polamalu said of Tomlin. "What an amazing responsibility for him and the confidence for him to be able to undertake such a task. I would add being an African-American head coach."
"He allowed me to be me. He would always joke around that you football players from Southern California, there is always something different with you guys. He was another father figure. He allowed me to miss certain things because I wanted to go to church. He let me value the things that I value outside of football. To me that's what makes him very special."
Cowher shared a couple of stories about Polamalu.
Troy and religion
"Troy used to go to mass on Saturday night," Cowher said. "Then on Sunday morning, we would have our worship service. When he got there as a rookie, I saw him at mass and then he was always the first one at worship. I walked up to him and said 'Troy, I see you go to the Catholic mass and now I see you this morning for worship. Where do you lie? And he was like, 'Coach, I like all religion. I like it all'.
Troy wasn't always praying
"I started walking over and said Troy," Cowher said. "Chris Hope said 'coach, you can't talk to Troy now'. I was like what do you mean. He goes, he's praying. It's going to be a while. I said I got to talk to him about that last defense, something really quick. Hope said sorry coach, I will come and get you when he's done. I said can you come and get me pretty quickly in case we have to go back out we don't screw up another defense. Hope said I got it. Troy had his head down and he went over to Chris and said 'did he leave yet'?
Coaches Final Thoughts
"You did not want to harness him," Cowher said. "You let him play. If he got uncomfortable, that made me uncomfortable. We gave him a lot of leeway and that's why he's going to the Hall of Fame. He's a very special player and a very, very special person."
"I think that's what you think about when you think about those guys that are going to be honored in Canton," Tomlin said. "Just the great standard bearers that they are, not only in terms of their play but what it means to be a Steeler, the way they embraced that and represented us in this community, the way they played the game, the way they lived their lives. I think Troy exemplifies all of that."
