Remembering Troy Polamalu's Legendary NFL Career

Troy Polamalu announced his retirement on Thursday, and the quotes from the Pittsburgh Steelers brass made plain how much he means to his franchise.

"Troy is a shining example of a football man in the way he loved the game, the way he respected the game and the way he played the game,'' Tomlin said in a statement, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. ''It's a shining example of the window into who he is. He is a legendary Steeler and a legendary man.''

"Since we drafted him in 2003, Troy Polamalu has been an outstanding player and person," said Steelers president Art Rooney II, via Patra. "His unique style of play will be remembered among the all-time Steelers. His passion for the game of football on the field and his willingness to be a contributor to the community make him a very special person."

A member of the the Associated Press' 2000s All-Decade team and the Steelers' 75th Anniversary team, Polamalu is an iconic figure on and off the field.

How did he get that way?

April 26, 2003: Steelers Trade Up, Draft Polamalu No. 16 Overall

JOHN HELLER/Associated Press

The Steelers had never drafted a safety in the first round, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette, and they'd never traded up in the first round, either.

Yet the explosive, versatile USC Trojan was too spectacular a talent at too desperate a need. Kevin Colbert, then the Steelers' director of football operations (and now general manager) gladly gave up third- and sixth-round picks to move up from No. 27 to No. 16.

Per ESPN.com, Polamalu could accelerate his 5'10", 206-pound frame at physics-defying speeds, covering the 40-yard dash in just 4.38 seconds and delivering plenty of force to ball-carriers.

"This kid is going to bring a lot of energy to a need position," Colbert told Bouchette. "He's special. He's going to create a lot of excitement, and he's going to help our defense immediately."

Reaction outside Pittsburgh was positive, too: ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli and ESPN Insider Mel Kiper both liked the pick, despite panning the rest of the Steelers' thinned-out 2003 class.

Pasquarelli noted Polamalu's coverage ability was in question because the Trojans so often brought him close to the line of scrimmage, but his athletic ability gave him "better range than people think."

Indeed.

2003 Season: Slow Starts

GENE J. PUSKAR/Associated Press

As was the custom under then-head coach Bill Cowher—and still is under current coach Mike Tomlin—rookies didn't start on defense. Polamalu was no exception.

Active for all 16 games but starting in none, Polamalu nevertheless made 30 solo tackles and eight assists with two sacks, four passes defensed and a forced fumble.

Coming off back-to-back division titles, Polamalu was supposed to help take the Steelers to the next level. Instead, in his limited role, they finished 18th in net passing yards per attempt and 15th in scoring defense, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Combined with a disappointing season from quarterback Tommy Maddox, the Steelers got off to a miserable 2-6 start. Over the back half of the season, Polamalu played more, and the Steelers started winning. A memorable Week 17 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens—an early chapter in the storied rivalry—clawed the Steelers up to 6-10 and out of the AFC North basement.

In hindsight, maybe Cowher should have just started him.

October 3, 2004: Polamalu's First Pick-Six

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Polamalu entered his second season as the unquestioned starter at strong safety, and he didn't take long to establish himself as one of the best safeties in the league.

After racking up 22 tackles, a sack and an interception in the first three games, Polamalu finally took a game directly into his hands.

In Week 4 against the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals, Polamalu was having a now-typical game, with six tackles, and the Steelers were trying to hold on to a four-point lead. After failing to put the game away on their last possession, the Steelers punted it into the end zone.

Polamalu's former USC teammate Carson Palmer took over on the 20-yard line. On the very first play of the Bengals' would-be game-winning drive, Polamalu snatched a pass meant for T.J. Houshmandzadeh and took it 26 yards to the house.

Polamalu would finish the year with 67 solo tackles, 29 assists, five interceptions, 14 passes defensed, one sack and a forced fumble. He also earned his first of eight Pro Bowl nods and nabbed his first postseason interception.

Despite going 15-1 and boasting the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense, though, the Steelers were handled in the AFC Championship Game by the eventual NFL-champion New England Patriots.

2005: First Super Bowl Win, First All-Pro Nod

After a disappointing finish to an incredible 15-1 season in 2004, the Steelers—and Polamalu—reached the NFL's mountaintop in 2005.

Not only did they run through the entire AFC bracket from the No. 6 seed up, they also became the first championship-winning Steelers team since the Chuck Noll/Terry Bradshaw squads of the 1970s. 

Polamalu was, again, an integral part of the Steelers' No. 3-ranked scoring defense. Not only did he set a career high in solo tackles (73) and sacks (3), he also picked off two passes, broke up eight others and earned his second Pro Bowl berth. All three sacks, interestingly enough, came in the Week 2 game against Houston—per Grantland's Bill Barnwell, Polamalu owns the NFL's single-game record for sacks by a safety.

Polamalu was also honored with a first-team All-Pro nomination, the Associated Press voters certifying him as the best strong safety in football.

He'd be so honored three more times in the next six seasons.

July 23, 2007: First Contract Extension

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

After a 2005 season that couldn't have gone better, the 2006 season was a step back for both the Steelers and Polamalu. His production didn't truly slip, but he missed three starts, and his stat totals weren't quite up to his recent standard.

The Steelers, missing his solid run-stuffing as well as his passing-game playmaking, went 8-8 and missed the playoffs. It spelled the end of Bill Cowher's long and prosperous tenure at the Steelers' helm.

Nevertheless, Polamalu was named to his third straight Pro Bowl; there was no question he was a cornerstone of one of the league's best defenses (and, over the course of his career, teams).

The Steelers, per ESPN.com, happily made Polamalu the highest-paid player in team history with a four-year, $30.2 million contract.

"You have to earn the money," Polamalu told ESPN. "It's not for what I did in the past, it's for what I've got to earn now."

Polamalu also hinted at a rare desire to avoid the free-agent carousel—and foreshadowed his even rarer one-team career.

"I didn't want to be a player who is jumping from team to team," Polamalu said. "I've always felt comfortable here; I think this organization, this tradition they have here, is very legendary, and I always wanted to be part of this."

2008: Back on Top

In 2007, fresh off that huge contract, Polamalu was slowed by injuries for the first time in his career. He made just 11 starts and didn't get any interceptions or sacks.

In 2008, his second season under new head coach Mike Tomlin, Polamalu was rejvenated. He was an unstoppable force, flying all over the field. He emphatically made all 16 starts, intercepted an incredible seven passes and broke up 17 more. He had 54 solo tackles and 19 assists.

Not only did Polamalu make the Pro Bowl again, he was named first-team All-Pro for the second time. The Steelers were the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense, finished 12-4 and got back to the Super Bowl—and won it.

Polamalu didn't just establish himself as one of the best defenders in football; he was the icon of a new generation of big, fast, aggressive two-way safeties.

2009: Flameout

They say the candle that burns brightest burns shortest, and Polamalu's insane 2008 season almost seemed to make him due for a setback in 2009.

He opened Week 1 with an astounding interception that might be his best—a one-handed snag of a 45-yard bomb intended for 6'3" rookie Kenny Britt. It looked like Polamalu might be taking his already top-notch game to an otherworldly, never-before-seen level. But a sprained MCL suffered later that game cut his 2009 season woefully short.

Despite working back onto the field for a handful of other games, he simply couldn't push through the strained ligament. He opted against reconstructive surgery and allowed the knee to heal.

Per John Harris of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Polamalu said he'd been told a re-injury would be "career-ending," and Harris presumed the Steelers would draft Polamalu's eventual replacement in the 2010 draft.

Ha.

2010: Best Year Ever

After the first major injury of Polamalu's career, at age 28, it was an open question if he'd ever get back to the stunning, position-redefining form he'd shown just before.

His speed and athleticism made him so dangerous. It wasn't just the source of his ability to fly around the secondary and make plays on the ball; without that explosion, his cannonball frame wouldn't be able to blow up tailbacks. Would he still have that athleticism post-injury?

Not to worry. Not only did Polamalu return to his 2008 form, he was arguably better. He matched his career-high seven interceptions, including his second career pick-six. He also compiled 11 passes defensed, a forced fumble, a recovered fumble, a sack, 49 solo tackles and 14 assists. He did this all despite missing two starts down the stretch.

Polamalu's backstop play elevated the Steelers' scoring defense to No. 1 overall, the Steelers won a dozen games, and they made the Super Bowl again. Polamalu didn't just re-start his Pro Bowl streak, he earned his third first-team All-Pro nod and his first AP Defensive Player of the Year award.

In an ironic twist on their underdog Super Bowl XL victory, though, the No. 2-seeded Steelers fell in Super Bowl XLV to the Green Bay Packers—the second No. 6 seed to ever win it all.

2011: Legendary

Associated Press

Polamalu began and ended the 2011 season as the best safety in football.

Coming off his tremendous 2010 campaign, Polamalu's interception numbers took a small step back—but he re-focused on the run game. His 64 solo tackles were his highest total since 2005, and he started all 16 games for the first time since 2008.

Polamalu again made the Pro Bowl, again earned first-team All-Pro honors and again led the Steelers to a 12-4 record. He also led the Steelers in Approximate Value, per Pro-Football-Reference.com, the only time he managed it. 

Losing a tiebreaker to the Baltimore Ravens meant the Steelers lost the division crown—and, as such, they had to travel to the 8-8 Denver Broncos.

Unfortunately, for all his legendary hair, Polamalu was unable to stop Tim Tebow.

2012-2014: The Truncation

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Up until 2012, Polamalu was building a case as the very best safety of all time.

However, injuries forced him to play just 35 games over the last three seasons of his career, missing almost an entire season's worth of contests in that span. Though he played all of 2013, earning his final Pro Bowl nod, Polamalu was simply not the playmaker he'd been for most of the previous decade.

Neil Paine at FiveThirtyEight.com broke down just how fantastic Polamalu was up through age 30—and how sharply his production declined after that. Between injuries, an aging Pittsburgh defense plummeting into mediocrity and the graying of his glorious mane, Polamalu became a mere mortal.

Without that trademark explosion, Polamalu's freelancing ways made him a target, not a weapon, against opposing offenses.

In 2014, Pro Football Focus graded him 48th overall out of 87 qualifying safeties.

The Legacy

There's no question Polamalu ranks among the very best safeties of his generation; the Associated Press named him to the second-team 2000s All-Decade team.

There's no question Polamalu was one of the foundational players of one of the best defenses of all time.

There's no question Polamalu is headed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The soft-spoken, big-hitting, ball-hawking safety takes an honored place among the legendary Steelers of all time. Many NFL fans' favorite player, far beyond the city of Pittsburgh, he more than validated the faith the Steelers showed in him—and the draft picks and cash they invested in him.

More than that, as the above video shows, he's an inspiration for Samoan athletes and people everywhere.

In fact, what Polamalu's done off the field is no less important to his NFL legacy.

Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman, after hearing of Polamalu's retirement, took to Twitter and relayed a story about Polamalu paying for the funeral of two young men. The series of tweets, collated by 247 Sports, ended with Feldman's assessment of Polamalu's character:

"You know when you sometimes hear 'Good player. Better person'? That's kinda Troy Polamalu. Only it's Hall of Fame player. Even better person."

Polamalu has founded multiple charities and benefit funds and done much in the Pittsburgh community. He was nominated for the NFL's Salute to Service award in 2014, thanks to his work benefitting veterans. Currently, his foundation is raising funds for humanitarian aid to American Samoa, the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital, the FOCUSNA Back Pack Feeding Program and the Fa'a American Samoa Camp.

Polamalu didn't just set the prototype for the next generation of NFL safeties, he was a fantastic role model for everyone who wants to be the best they can be.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.