This is Part 4 of a five-part series on Steelers legend Troy Polamalu, in advance of his scheduled Aug. 8 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Today: LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL
Football was Troy Polamalu's passion for most of his first 33 years on the planet. It started with him and his brother, Sakio, in his front yard, then took him to Tenmile, Ore., and nearly to Colorado before sending him back to Los Angeles and finally, Pittsburgh.
Through it all, Polamalu somehow remained the same person. Despite the accolades, the honors and the championships, he stayed grounded, something that's not easy to do when so many people are saying you're the greatest.
Those who have known him the longest know the reason.
"He’s as productive off the field as he is on the field," his uncle, Kennedy Polamalu, now a running backs coach for the Vikings, told me. "Somebody asked me the other day what thing stands out: He’s just a humble young man. That humility comes with service, comes with being a good son, a good nephew, a good teammate, good husband. That humility goes all around his life."
"I hope both," Kennedy Polamalu replied when asked whether it was culture or family that was the reason for Troy's humility. "We’re always obedient and respectful. That’s part of the way we were brought up. And also in your faith."
"Thank God for that," Kennedy Polamalu said. "I think he’s going through that, not in terms of the trouble, but he’s going through that being a father. Troy was a very active young man. I just recall him growing up and watching him gather all these other kids and play on the streets, play in the park, wherever he could play. I was telling him, his oldest son reminds me of that. His oldest son is running around, gathering other kids. He’s doing all the same things. Having the Oregon community, the Tenmile community embrace him, it was tough for him at times, I’m sure, but they’ve done a nice job of teaching him what’s right and what’s wrong."
"The points when I do pinch myself is when I’m on a commercial set and it’s me and another actor in front of the camera and there are 100 people behind and there are caterers and trailers," Polamalu told me. "I’m like, 'Ok, this is crazy.’ To me, the football part just naturally manifested itself. It was always, ‘I love what I’m doing. I just love to play football.’"