Troy Polamalu is more than famous hair, he is the leader and big playmaker for the Steelers defense

By Manish Mehta
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
http://www.nydailynews.com
Thursday, February 3rd 2011


FORT WORTH, Tex. - He's the humble man, the quiet man, the scary man who will wreck your offensive game plan.

Ladies love him. Follicly challenged men envy him. Everybody knows him.

Sometimes he'll soar over you. Sometimes he'll run through you. Every time, he'll make a difference.

Troy Polamalu is much more than the savvy shampoo pitchman whose lustrous head of hair is insured by Lloyd's of London for $1 million. The hard-hitting Steelers safety is the engine of the league's best defense, a hurricane of movement that has foiled some of the best offenses in the sport.

"He's probably the most instinctive player I've ever had," Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said in the run-up to the Super Bowl XLV showdown with the Packers on Sunday. "He has the amazing capability of studying film and being able to instantly apply that in the game situation. A lot of guys can get down to tendencies, formation, motion, but when it comes to pulling the trigger, they do OK. Troy is exceptional."

Polamalu's instincts are only part of the reason why offensive coordinators pack an extra bottle of Motrin on gamedays against the Steelers. You never really know what the Steelers superstar with the flowing locks is going to do or where he's going to be on any given play.

"You got to have your radar up when you're playing this guy," Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "You can't be staring at the ground or staring at your down hand if you're an offensive lineman, because he'll shoot a gap. You better be alert.

"They do a great job with their scheme," Philbin said. "That's part of their success story defensively."

Although Polamalu insists that "I don't have any more freedom than anybody else has in the defense," the truth is that LeBeau has designed a scheme that gives this season's AP Defensive Player of the Year plenty of opportunities to make smart, calculated choices. The flexibility allows Polamalu to read his keys and make informed decisions. In other words, he's more than simply a freelancer.

"We're not going to just let him go out there and let him go wherever he wants to go," LeBeau said. "But we're going to give him some freedom to create. He makes us look pretty smart a lot of times."

Polamalu's instincts within Le-Beau's schematic framework are the primary reason that Pittsburgh was the league's most formidable defense this season.

"Don't get it twisted. He's definitely a con artist," cornerback Ike Taylor said. "He'll con his way around the defense. If he sees something, if he feels something, he will not hesitate. Nine times out of nine, he's going to make a play."

Polamalu's value was never more evident than on his strip sack of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco in Week 13 with the Steelers trailing with less than four minutes remaining. The Steelers turned that turnover into a touchdown, which proved critical. The Steelers' 13-10 win over their AFC North rivals helped them get the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. Polamalu had a free run from Flacco's blind side in what turned out to be the most important play of Pittsburgh's regular season.

"I've ceased to be surprised by anything that Troy does," LeBeau said. "I know that he said that key sack he got against Baltimore was just a matter of running in there (and) that we called the defense well. That just isn't so. I don't know of any other safety in the league that could have got there that quick and strip that ball out and made that play."

Despite all his success, the six-time Pro Bowler rarely seeks the spotlight.

"I wouldn't be somebody that's a rah-rah, look-at-me guy," Polamalu said. "If you see people like that, there's something that's not authentic in their life. They're either fake outside the football field or fake on the football field. I just try to be the same person."

Recently, that's meant starring in shampoo commercials to show off his mountain of hair. The week-long comparisons to Packers linebacker Clay Matthews' long locks have also brought out Polamalu's lighter side.

"A couple guys on their defense have got some nice hair," Polamalu said. "A.J. Hawk has got some good hair himself, but I saw a lot of split ends. I think he may need to switch to Head and Shoulders."


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