Support grows for Steelers' Troy Polamalu to make Hall of Fame on 1st try

Was the gesture a sign of things to come?

On Thursday, at an event held on the site of Super Bowl LIV, Pro Football Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker presented commemorative Hall of Fame pins to the young sons of Steelers great Troy Polamalu.

Dad’s turn could happen Saturday night. And if it does, Baker’s gift to Polamalu won’t be commemorative.

In his first year of eligibility, Polamalu is among 15 finalists for five spots in the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020. Former Steelers teammate Alan Faneca also is among the finalists.

The announcement on whether Polamalu and Faneca will be fitted for gold jackets will take place at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Their coach, Bill Cowher, already gained election to the Class of 2020 as part of the Centennial Slate, and he would like nothing more than to get some company on the dais at Hall of Fame ceremonies this summer.

“Troy Polamalu was a difference maker,” Cowher said. “Troy Polamalu was a guy that every team had to gameplan for. When you become that kind of player and people are game-planning differently because of you as a player, that puts you in a very unique category.

“He was a unique player with an unbelievable skillset, and they only come along every now and then. This guy, without a doubt, was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

A first-round draft pick in 2003, Polamalu spent his entire 12-year NFL career with the Steelers, retiring after the 2014 season with two Super Bowl championships, eight Pro Bowl invitations and four first-team All-Pro selections. He also was the 2010 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Polamalu redefined the role of a safety by moving effortlessly along the defense, be it providing run support, blitzing the quarterback or dropping into coverage. With his long hair flowing beneath his helmet, Polamalu was a whirling dervish on the field, impossible to ignore and almost as unlikely to stop.

“Troy was such a physical player that it was like he was shot out of a cannon,” teammate and Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis said. “Once he saw where the ball was going, he would beat the linebackers to it sometimes. He was that athletic, and he was fearless.”

It wasn’t just the totality of his work that made Polamalu a special football player. It was his penchant for big plays that made teammates and opponents alike take notice.

There were the one-handed interceptions, whether it was leaping high in the air to grab the football with his fingertips or lunging forward to scoop the ball before it touched the ground. And the moments he hurdled the line of scrimmage, timing his jump to the snap before wrestling down a helpless quarterback or running back.

Polamalu also had a knack for finding the end zone at opportune moments such as his weaving 40-yard touchdown jaunt after he intercepted a Joe Flacco pass, the score sealing a 23-14 win over the archrival Baltimore Ravens in the 2008 AFC championship game. It gave the Steelers a berth in Super Bowl XLIII.

“When you’re watching the play, you’re asking yourself, ‘Are you not looking at probably the best player on that team?’ ” said Ray Lewis, the Ravens’ Hall of Fame linebacker. “You have to locate Troy Polamalu. Just his ability to change games, I always used to say the greatest ones found ways to change games. Even when I hated it, I had to respect him.”

If Polamalu is elected in his first year of eligibility, he would be the second safety in as many years to make the Hall of Fame on his first try, following Ravens contemporary Ed Reed.

Polamalu, though, is one of four safeties among the 15 finalists. The others are Steve Atwater, John Lynch and LeRoy Butler.

Weighing in Polamalu’s favor are the endorsements he has received from Hall of Famers such as Bettis and Lewis in addition to recent support from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady released a statement through the Steelers public relations department that supported Polamalu’s candidacy.

“Outside of his incredible athleticism, his greatest skill was his unpredictability,” Brady said. “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.”