Safeties Polamalu, Atwater get call

Offensive stalwarts Bruce, James, Hutchinson also elected to 2020 class

MIAMI — He grew his hair so long, it flowed out of his helmet and obscured the name on the back of his jersey.

Didn’t matter. Everyone knew where to find Troy Polamalu on Sundays.

The Steelers great earned a spot in the Hall of Fame on Saturday along with another hard-hitting safety, Steve Atwater of Denver. Also making it were receiver Isaac Bruce, running back Edgerrin James and guard Steve Hutchinson.

Polamalu said he went six or seven years, maybe longer, without cutting his hair during the prime of his career, which lasted from 2003-14. But as much as for the hair, he earned the nickname “Tasmanian Devil” for how he changed the way people thought about the safety position — bolting around the field, making plays from practically anywhere. No quarterback, runner or receiver was safe.

Selected in his first year of eligibility, Polamalu was a four-time All-Pro, was voted to eight Pro Bowls and finished with two Super Bowl rings in three trips. His pick-6 against Joe Flacco in the 2008 AFC title game was part of a dominating performance in what might have been his best season; he had seven interceptions that year and the Steelers won the Super Bowl.

Though game-changing safeties were nothing new to the league, Polamalu could line up near the linebackers, or the defensive linemen, or deep in the backfield, and wreck a game plan from any of those spots.

“He’s waking people up to the impact a safety can have in today’s game,” another safety, John Lynch, said in an interview while Polamalu was in his prime.

Lynch, in Miami this week as GM of the 49ers, was also among the 15 finalists whose resumes were debated and discussed throughout the day by the panel of four dozen voters. But he did not make the cut. Neither did Tony Boselli, the dominant Jaguars offensive lineman whose career lasted only 91 games because of shoulder injuries. The Jaguars are still without a player in the hall.

An offensive lineman did make it, though. It was Steve Hutchinson, who played guard for the Seahawks, Vikings and Titans over a 12-year career. He’d been a finalist in all three years since becoming eligible and broke through in this, a class that didn’t include any slam dunks — or a single quarterback among the list of finalists.

Atwater made it — in his 16th year of eligibility, no less. — and became the first home-grown Broncos defender to join the hall. (An honor many in Denver believe should belong to Orange Crush linebacker Randy Gradishar.)

A two-time All-Pro who won two Super Bowls, Atwater prowled the backfield and delivered vicious hits to anyone coming across. One irony of Atwater’s late-recognized greatness is that many of his whiplash-inducing hits would be illegal in today’s NFL.

Though receivers were mostly at risk, it was his shoulder-to-shoulder disintegration of 250-pound Chiefs running back Christian Okyoe, “The Nigerian Nightmare,” while mic’d up on “Monday Night Football” in 1990 that truly put Atwater on the map.

James may not have had a singular moment like that, but he was a bastion of versatility and durability. He made a name for himself with his ability to carve out room on the ground while playing in Peyton Manning’s offense with the Colts from 1999-2005. James also played three seasons with the Cardinals and a halfyear with the Seahawks.

James finished with more than 3,300 yards receiving and more than 12,000 yards rushing. He won the NFL rushing title in 1999 and 2000, no small thing given Manning was revving up his career at the time.

Bruce was a headliner in “The Greatest Show on Turf,” the pass-happy attack run by Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner when the Rams were in St. Louis. This was Bruce’s sixth season of eligibility and his fourth time as a finalist.

His 15,208 yards receiving over 16 seasons were second in the NFL record book when he retired in 2009. But he was never selected an AP All-Pro, and some critics dismissed his stats as being more a sign of his longevity and the passing era he played in than any mark of true greatness.

There were no seniors announced Saturday, as they were folded into the hall’s special centennial class of inductees who are being honored as part of the NFL’s 100th anniversary. Among the old-timers who were announced last month were Harold Carmichael, Donnie Shell and Alex Karras.