MIAMI — For the better part of a decade, the debate raged between Steelers and Ravens fans over whose All-Pro safety was better, Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed.
Reed went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year in his first year of eligibility, and there is some expectation that Polamalu will do the same this year.
Polamalu is one of two former Steelers players among this year's group of 15 finalists, joining guard Alan Faneca on that list. The vote will come Saturday, Feb. 1, in Miami, with the 48 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee deciding the fate of Polamalu and Faneca.
I’ll be presenting both Polamalu and Faneca to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee. This will largely be my five-minute speech for Polamalu, who is joined by former Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne as a finalist in his first year of eligibility.
From 2003 through 2014, the Steelers ranked in the top-10 in the NFL in scoring defense seven times, leading the league four times. They also ranked in the top 10 in fewest yards allowed 10 times, leading the league five times in that span.
In the 12 years he played, the Steelers allowed the fewest yards, second-fewest points and second-lowest passer rating in the NFL.
That defense was built around the unique skillset of Polamalu, the team's do-it-all strong safety.
"He is a generational talent, a one-in-a-million athlete," said Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau, the mastermind of that defense. "He has the most amazing football instincts that I have ever seen. Accompanying that wonderful instinct was a willingness to work and prepare. He was so quick and intuitive. He is absolutely a coach's dream."
LeBeau schemed up a lot around the talents of Polamalu, who led the Steelers to two Super Bowls wins and three AFC Championships.
The 2010 NFL Defensive Player of the Year -- one of just five safeties in NFL history to win the award -- Polamalu was the king of making big plays at key moments.
Many of those came in the team's bitter rivalry against Reed and the Ravens. The two teams had some of the best knock-down, drag-out battles in the first decade of the 2000s, but there was plenty of mutual respect.
"I always used to say, the greatest ones find a way to change the game and the course of the game," said Ravens Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis. "We had many times in our rivalry to watch Troy -- knowing I hated it -- but had to respect it. When you talk about why the Hall of Fame for Troy, there are many kids, there are many people that will play this game that will hope one day that they play with the humility and passion to play the game like Troy Polamalu played the game."
A first-round draft pick out of University of Southern California in 2003, Polamalu played in 158 regular season games in his 12 years with the Steelers. He also appeared in 15 career postseason games, helping the team to a 10-5 record.
Polamalu was a six-time All-Pro, including earning first-team status four times. He also was named to the Pro Bowl eight times and was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2000s All-Decade Team. He finished his career with 32 career interceptions, 14 forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries and 12 sacks.
More importantly, he affected the way opponents attempted to attack the Steelers. Each week, opposing coaches and quarterbacks stated on their conference calls with the Pittsburgh media that the key to solving the Steelers defense was diagnosing where Polamalu was going to be at on a given play.
"One key to success for a quarterback is to study a lot of film in order to understand defensive tendencies and know how the defense will try to defend everything you are trying to do as an offense. But that never worked against Troy," said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. "He was one of the most instinctive and disruptive players I have ever played against. Outside of his incredible athleticism, his greatest skill was his unpredictability. You could never quite get a bead on what he was doing, yet, he was always around the ball.
“Troy was just a playmaker who you had to account for on every play. It was amazing to watch film on him and to try to understand how he knew where to be and when. If you wanted to find Troy, you just looked for where the ball was going and you would always find him.”
Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor agreed.
"He's a damned good player," Taylor told USA Today in 2006. "He's one of those guys who makes you go turn on the TV just to watch him."
It drove opposing coaches crazy.
"Troy was a difference maker every single play," said Hall of Fame guard Mike Munchak, who coached against Polamalu when with the Titans. "As a line coach, I very rarely had to worry about the secondary. But we played Pittsburgh quite often, and every single snap you had to be concerned where he was. Some guys are thumpers, big guys, strong guys, known for being the eighth man in the box or being the aggressor. Troy did it in a very unique way that worked for him. He is going to the Hall of Fame because he is as good as anybody who played the game."
It also led to some dominant defenses.
Three times during Polamalu's 12-year career, the Steelers allowed fewer than 15 points per game. That was led by the 2008 defense, which limited opponents to 13.9 points and 237 yards per game en route to a Super Bowl victory.
Polamalu didn't win the Defensive Player of the Year award that season, though he very well could have with his seven interceptions, which tied for second-most in the league. The award went to teammate James Harrison that season, which was just fine with Polamalu, who quietly went about his business year after year, both on and off the field.
He largely downplayed his charitable work, but it earned him the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2010.
"As far as I'm concerned, he was as good a teammate as I've ever seen," said LeBeau, who spent more than 50 years as a player and coach in the NFL. "He was so positive with the goals of the team and unassuming in terms of personal praise. He was absolutely too good to be true, but he was true. I just think there has never been a safety that is any better. And he is certainly worthy of going into the Hall of Fame and going in on the first ballot."
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