Troy Aumua Polamalu (pronounced /ˌpoʊləˈmɑːluː/ ) (born Troy Aumua on April 19, 1981 in Garden Grove , California ) is a professional American football strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League . He was drafted in the first round (sixteenth overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Steelers. He played college football at the University of Southern California .
College career
Polamalu spent his first year at USC as a backup where he became a hybrid player, playing at both safety positions. While he was only a backup player at the time, Polamalu still made his mark in the eight games he played in, collecting two sacks, two forced fumbles and blocking a punt. He would become a full-time starter at the strong safety position the following year, earning All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors after finishing second on the team with 83 tackles and tying the team for the lead in interceptions with two.
Polamalu's best year would come during his junior season where he became USC's first All-American safety since Mark Carrier in 1989 . He earned first-team honors from Pro Football News-Weekly and The NFL Draft Report, 2nd team honors from the Associated Press , and third-team honors from Football Weekly . He was for the first time selected to the All-Pac-10 team this year as well, as a 1st team member. As a team captain, Polamalu finished the year leading the team in tackles (118), tackles for losses (13 with one sack), passes defended (6), and interceptions (3), returning two for touchdowns. His tackles were the most by a safety at USC since Tim McDonald made 140 in 1986. After helping the Trojans team to the Las Vegas Bowl , he set a Las Vegas Bowl record and a career high in tackles with 20 against Utah with 12 solo tackles, a record for the bowl. Another key deflection in the game made him the MVP of the game for the Trojans in their 10-6 loss. He added three blocked punts and two forced fumbles in the season and saw time on punt return duty.
In 2002, his last year at USC, Polamalu would start in all but one game against Pac-10 rival California , giving him 36 total starts in his college career. He made 68 tackles for the season, 9 for losses, as well as 4 pass deflections and one interception, all while battling an ankle injury that would eventually sideline him during the Orange Bowl against Iowa . Though he would only see action in two plays during the game, the Trojans' defense held the Hawkeyes to 17 points and won the game 38-17, giving Polamalu the first and only bowl win of his college career.
Polamalu would earn 1st team All-American honors from several sources such as the Associated Press, Walter Camp and ESPN while earning second-team honors from The Sporting News . This would make him the first two-time All-American selection for USC since offensive lineman Tony Boselli . He became a two-time All-Pac-10 first teamer and was awarded the Most Inspirational Player Award by his teammates. Polamalu was named as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award , given to the nation's best defensive back, along with then-Ohio State safety Mike Doss and the eventual winner then-Kansas State cornerback Terence Newman .
Polamalu finished his career at USC as a 3-year starter. In all, he made 278 total tackles with 29 of them being behind the line scrimmage, 6 interceptions, 13 pass deflections and 4 blocked punts.
Professional career
2003 NFL Draft
Polamalu was drafted 16th overall in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Polamalu was actually the team's second option at safety, as they had planned on signing Dexter Jackson that offseason. Jackson, the reigning Super Bowl MVP with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , even had a verbal agreement to sign with the Steelers, only for him to back out at the last minute and sign with the Arizona Cardinals instead. The Steelers then went to "Plan B" and drafted Polamalu instead.
The Chargers, who had the 15th overall pick, had a major need at safety to replace Rodney Harrison but instead chose to go with quantity over quality forgoing the opportunity to select Polamalu by trading down and getting Sammy Davis and Terrence Kiel . The Steelers, ecstatic that Polamalu slid past the Chargers, quickly made a move to bring Polamalu to their team. The Steelers believed so much that Polamalu could have a positive impact on their defense that they traded up from the twenty-seventh spot to the sixteenth spot, originally held by the Chiefs . The Steelers traded away the ninety-second and two hundredth overall pick for the rights to switch first round picks and select Troy Polamalu. Essentially, the trade was Polamalu for Larry Johnson , Julian Battle , and Brooks Bollinger (the Bollinger pick was subsequently traded to the Jets in the same draft). He has the distinction of being the only safety ever drafted by the Steelers in the first round.
In the last game of his college career against Iowa in the Orange Bowl, Polamalu injured his hamstring in pre-game warm-ups and had very limited action in the game that day. Subsequently, the hamstring caused Polamalu to miss the Senior Bowl and 2003 NFL Combine as well. Polamalu was able to perform for scouts at his USC pro day. He was then drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round and signed a five-year, $35,214,568 contract.
Pittsburgh SteelersPolamalu's hair is one of his most distinguishing characteristics, and he is easily spotted on field because of it. In the CBS Playoffs Pre-game Show, Polamalu said the last time he had gotten a haircut was at USC in the year 2000 when a coach told him he needed one. In Samoan culture, it is customary for men to wear their hair long[citation needed ] . The hair was the center of talk around a tackle on October 15, 2006. After an interception where Polamalu looked poised for a touchdown return, Chiefs RB Larry Johnson pulled him down by his hair in order to tackle him. Commentators[who? ] correctly pointed out that pulling hair is legal and does not alone constitute unnecessary roughness[citation needed ] , but Johnson was penalized for rising to his feet while retaining grasp of Polamalu's hair (pulling him up in the process). The Steelers use Polamalu in a high percentage of defensive plays, in a wide variety of defensive roles. In only his third season (2005), he tied the NFL record for most sacks, 3, in a single game by a safety. The 2007 Pro Bowl was his third consecutive Pro Bowl appearance; he started at strong safety for the AFC, playing next to the Baltimore Ravens starting free safety Ed Reed . The rivalry they share based on their teams' divisional rivalry was evident, as the two battled for possession of an overthrown halfback pass from former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber ; Reed came down with the interception. He made the AP NFL All-Pro Second Team in 2005, followed by being named to the First Team in 2006. His first Super Bowl appearance was in Super Bowl XL in 2006, when the Pittsburgh Steelers gained the franchise's fifth Super Bowl (against a former USC teammate Lofa Tatupu ) with a 21–10 win over the Seattle Seahawks . On July 23, 2007, before training camp, the Steelers gave Polamalu the biggest contract in team history extending him through 2011. In an article on ESPN.com , Polamalu said, "I did not want to be a player who is jumping from team to team. 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." The four-year contract extension, worth just over $30 million with about $15 million in guarantees, made Polamalu one of the highest paid defensive backs in the league and the highest paid safety in the league (though this distinction was taken by Bob Sanders on December 28, 2007 when he signed a five-year, $37.5 million contract with $20 million in guarantees). Polamalu was named a reserve to the 2008 Pro Bowl despite having no interceptions and only playing in eleven games during the 2007 season. Polamalu's injury-plagued 2007 season led him to partake in a California rehab program. He suffered a hamstring injury late in his off-season workout, causing him to miss Pittsburgh's 2008 training camp. He returned to practicing with the team days after the camp's conclusion, however. Polamalu was named | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Information about Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Aumua Polamalu. Read the rest
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{leagues.league1.index}/#{leagues.total}) #{leagues.league1.teamLink} in: #{leagues. Troy Polamalu | #43 | SS. Pittsburgh Steelers | Official Team Site Read the rest
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Troy Polamalu was born on April 19, 1981 in Garden Grove, California. Troy grew up in Fountain Valley, which was a short drive from Anaheim. Read the rest
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Troy Polamalu. SS #43. Height: 5-10. Weight: 207. Age: 29. College: USC Theodora Polamalu with one son, PaisiosFull name: Troy Aumua Polamalu. Read the rest
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Troy Polamalu is a Pro Bowl strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. Read the rest
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Polamalu made a number of big plays seemingly in every game in 2001. His full name is Troy Polamalu Aumua. He was born in Garden Grove, Calif., and lived Read the rest
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