POLAMALU RETIRING?
Troy Polamalu’s illustrious 12year career with the Steelers apparently has come to an end.
Polamalu told Jim Wexell of Scout.com in a phone call Thursday that he has decided to retire.
“I did not consider playing elsewhere,” Polamalu said. “It was just whether or not I wanted to play. I had talked to a lot of people about what I should do with my situation.”
The Steelers told Polamalu they wanted him to retire. Had he not, they planned to release him. They gave him time, however, to come to his own conclusion because of his revered status both within the organization and with the fans.
By retiring, Polamalu won’t be paid his $6 million salary, but all the pro-rated signing bonus left over the next two years of his contract ($4.5 million) will count against the Steelers salary cap in 2014. Even so, his retirement will clear $3.75 million in cap room for the team this year and will not count against them in the future.
Troy Aumua Polamalu, who turns 34 April 19, leaves as one of the most decorated and popular players in franchise history. Fans considered him more than a football player, one who embodied all that anyone could ask of an athlete as a role model.
He was selected to eight Pro Bowls, he made firstteam All-Pro four times and was the 2010 NFL defensive player of the year. He also is on the Steelers’ 75th Anniversary Team and the NFL’s 2000s All-Decade team.
Although he did not start a game until his second season, he was voted the team’s rookie of the year in 2003. Earlier that year, the Steelers traded draft picks in the third and sixth rounds to Kansas City in order to move from their spot at 27th in the first round to 16th, where they selected Polamalu from Southern California.
“I wasn’t ready,” Polamalu said last year, explaining why he did not start as a rookie. “I played in everything except start. I played all the special teams, nickel, dime, goal-line. But I definitely was not ready to start.”
He finishes his career with 32 interceptions and 12 sacks in regular-season games. His five touchdown returns on turnovers are tied for second in franchise history. Last season was only the second time in his 11-year career as a starter he did not have an interception.
Polamalu also had three interceptions in the postseason, and one of them ranks among the most important plays in team history.
It came in the 2008 AFC championship against Baltimore at Heinz Field. The Steelers led, 16-14, but the Ravens had the ball with 4:24 left, third down at their 29. Joe Flacco threw a pass to the right that Polamalu picked off and returned 40 yards for a touchdown to put the Steelers in the Super Bowl they would win.
He did in the Ravens again to help secure the 2010 AFC North championship at Baltimore. A showdown for that division title came Dec. 5. The Ravens held a fourpoint lead with 3:22 left and the ball on their 43, secondand-5. The Steelers seemingly would need a huge play to pull it out.
Polamalu gave it to them. He blitzed, knocked the ball out of Flacco’s hand, and LaMarr Woodley recovered at Baltimore’s 9. Ben Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to Isaac Redman for the winner that helped send them to another Super Bowl.
Those kinds of plays and their important timing seemed typical of his career and what he enjoyed most about playing football, as he emphasized in one comment last year:
“I was talking to one player and he was saying, ‘I really enjoy playing in space,’ and I said I enjoy being wherever the ball is. Wherever the ball is, that’s where I want to be.”
In August at training camp at Saint Vincent College, Polamalu spoke about getting older and how it might affect him and his play.
“Time will tell, age will tell. I do, I feel good. I’m not going to tell you a lie and be like I’m in the greatest shape of my life. In truth, I’m in the best shape that I can be in right now, in my 12th year. Time will tell whether that’s relevant this year.”
He turned the same phrase at the end of the season when asked if he would play again.