Steelers Legend Troy Polamalu Was Important To Super Bowl MVP Growing Up: 'He Was A God When I Was A Kid'

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a long list of players that are important to the history of the NFL. After all, the franchise has 32 people in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There are plenty of stories about NFL players looking up to former Steelers, or defenders being inspired by the Pittsburgh defenses of the 1970s that led the organization to four Super Bowls. Pittsburgh also has players from the 2000s Super Bowl teams that serve that purpose as well, including the great Troy Polamalu.

Polamalu was a unique player at the safety position. He often let his instincts drive him and would sometimes abandon his assignment to make a play. He was right to do so most of the time. One of Polamalu's most exciting plays came during the 2008 AFC Championship Game, when he picked off Joe Flacco and returned it for a touchdown to seal the game for Pittsburgh and take his team to Super Bowl XLIII. On Julian Edelman's podcast, Games With Names, he grades games from over the years with guests who played a part in that game, and he recently spoke about possibly having Polamalu on the show to discuss the 2008 AFC Championship Game.

"Troy Polamalu, that'd be an awesome guest. I was such a fan of Troy Polamalu. Funny story, when I was at Kent State, we stole these big Nike cutouts from like a shoe store, and it was f------ Troy Polamalu and Wes Welker. We had them in our house on our walls. But Troy was so cool, I grew up in California with a lot of Samoans and Tongans, so I was always a fan of them in the league. He was a god when I was a kid. I'm such a fan of his, the respect he has for the game, he'd light you up and pray afterwards."

Polamalu came into the NFL in 2003 when Edelman would have been in the middle of his high school football career. Polamalu became an icon in the league at the perfect time for Edelman, as he was just starting to get serious about his own football career and was in the midst of trying to be able to play football at the college level. Little did he know, he would end up stealing the starting spot of someone had he had hanging on his wall, Wes Welker. 

Edelman and Polamalu didn't have much of a crossover in the NFL, as Polamalu retired after the 2014 season and Edelman didn't become a consistent contributor in the passing game for the New England Patriots until 2013. The two only faced off against one another three times. Once in 2010 where Edelman was nonexistent (aside from a 12-yard punt return), another time in 2011 (but Edelman was inactive), and a third time in 2013 where Pittsburgh lost 55-31. Edelman caught one ball for 11 yards in the game which was his worst of the year, while Polamalu had 7 tackles and a forced fumble. 

Steelers Great May Make Edelman's Wish Come True

Polamalu has slowly been easing his way back into the public eye. He has been seen in Pittsburgh at certain events for charity, and he was also fairly active at media week ahead of Super Bowl LVIII doing interviews on several podcasts. If Polamalu wants to relive some of the glory days of his NFL career, joining a former player like Edelman would be a great environment to do so, as long as Polamalu doesn't hold any grudges for how many times New England got the best of Pittsburgh. 

Polamalu is one of the best safeties of all time, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 2020. He played the game the right way, and at a high level, seeing a player like that slowly getting more involved in the media and inching back into the public eye is good to see for Pittsburgh fans.