Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu are two all-time greats who retired as Steelers though not necessarily on their own terms.
The Steelers released Ward in 2012 and he pondered playing elsewhere before officially announcing his retirement during a tearful news conference. The Steelers quietly pushed for Polamalu to retire after the 2014 season in which he didn’t record a sack or an interception for only the second time in his career.
Polamalu, wanting little fanfare as possible, called Dan Rooney in April and then called longtime Steelers beat writer Jim Wexell to announce his retirement. He quietly slipped off the radar but stayed true to himself until the very end.
Polamalu played with the reckless abandon and choreographed chaos—even in his 12th and final NFL season—that made him one of the best safeties of his generation. His style, and the injuries that resulted from it, eventually robbed him of his legs.
Polamalu left the game as arguably the most unique Steelers star of all time.
He didn’t like drawing attention to himself yet his play made it impossible to take your eyes off him. His long, flowing hair made him an ideal spokesman for Head & Shoulders and Polamalu seemed natural as a pitch man. Yet his aversion to self-promotion was such that when Polamalu visited sick kids at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh he slipped in and out of the building so no one would notice him.
I never could reconcile how a man so soft-spoken and humble off the field could be so hard-hitting and intense on it. Polamalu is a deeply religious and spiritual person so I asked Father Paul Taylor at St. Vincent College if he could explain it.
Taylor, a Benedictine monk, works closely with the Steelers during training camp and also leads a mass before games at Heinz Field. He said the dichotomy of Polamalu made perfect sense.
“One of Troy’s many gifts is that he has the gift of 100 percent focus. When he’s praying, he’s all in praying and when he’s speaking with you, you’re the only person in the room,” Taylor said. “And when he was on the field he was 100 percent focused. He knew where every player was, he knew where the ball was and was able to respond to that with his whole being. Very few people, I think, have the gift of 100 percent focus. I have never seen Troy distracted because when he’s doing something he’s all in.”