Steelers Legend Troy Polamalu Reveals Why Brotherhood Was Much Deeper Than The Game

When you think of legendary Pittsburgh Steelers, many names come to mind. In recent years, there may be nobody more legendary than the great Troy Polamalu. Polamalu's greatness consists of being an eight-time Pro Bowler, a four-time First Team All-Pro, the 2010 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and he was a two-time Super Bowl champion to name just a few of his accomplishments.

Although Polamalu was great on the field, he is also known for being one of the nicest players off of the field. One of the biggest things that he has done since being retired from football was working for his foundation. The Troy and Theodora Polamalu Foundation is used for the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, American Samoa, and much more. He also has been in years past the most highly requested Make-A-Wish from Steelers fans. Through his great work in the city, he has become a staple point of Pittsburgh.

Even though he has done great work off the field, don't let that fool you from what he was like on the field. Through multiple reports over the years, many players commented on how Polamalu was able to flip the switch during games, unlike any other player in the league. This is what made him so legendary. Sometimes he would go too far and would let out anger instead of playing hard-nosed football, but this was the rarity with Polamalu.

One recollection of Polamalu going off the rails came from his former teammate Bryant McFadden on the All Things Covered podcast. He mentioned that there was a play against the then-San Diego Chargers wide receiver Keenan McCardell who went and hit him in the back on a late hit in the early 2000s. McFadden would say that when this happened, Polamalu would turn into the Tasmanian devil and that it sparked blood in the water during that game. He would then say when this happened, it would bring the whole team together and would fire them up since Polamalu would rarely get mad like this.

Polamalu would comment on this by saying how great their brotherhood was on the Steelers. He also states that even though someone was looking to pick a fight, they would have the support from all of their teammates when this would happen. This is what made the Steelers in the 2000s so good. Every single player on that defense seemed to be able to pick up the guy next to them.

"One thing I always admired about our team is that we would have to pull guys off of opposing teams' busses because that was the level of brotherhood that we had. If you mess with us, we are going to take this to the streets." Polamalu would then say that, "It was much deeper than just a game. It was deeper than I am going to get a good hit on you."

The Brotherhood That The Steelers Created

The biggest takeaway from the interview was the brotherhood that the Steelers created during their time together. You even had McFadden get emotional as he shared a letter that Polamalu gave him when he was toward the end of his career. This spoke volumes to not only these two, but what everyone on that roster had created together. You also see them still hanging out to this day which is something that you rarely see in sports.

A testament to the connections that are made in Pittsburgh would be through this podcast itself. Having guys like Polamalu and Joey Porter Sr. show up on their former teammates' podcasts shows that they were close on and off the field.

So, what do you think, Steeler Nation? Do you remember the elite defense that the Steelers had in the 2000s? Let me know in the comments below!

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