Does Polamalu retire?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000476330/article/troy-polamalu-not-in-steelers-plans-for-2015

Quote :

Has Troy Polamalu's long and brilliant run with the Pittsburgh Steelers come to a close?

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that the organization believes the celebrated safety has played his last game for the Steelers, per a pair of team sources.

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Rapoport was told that the defender is not in Pittsburgh's plans for 2015 and won't be back. The only question is how his exit will play out.

http://now.nfl.com/play/1836fee6-8f65-49e0-b22e-fa12a5e82f90?id=1836fee6-8f65-49e0-b22e-fa12a5e82f90


I think we've all seen this coming. But will he retire a Steeler?

I hope he hangs it up as a Steeler. He means way to much to the team and the city for anything else to make sense.

solardave wrote:

I hope he hangs it up as a Steeler. He means way to much to the team and the city for anything else to make sense.

I would be very surprised if he plays next year. Troy seems to be more honest about his performance than most players.

I think he plays another year, for another team. Hate to say it, but it's coming.

Drizztbob wrote:

I think he plays another year, for another team.  Hate to say it, but it's coming.

I hope you are wrong. I've read that his wife wants him to retire, so maybe he will listen to her.

I can't see him in another uniform. Maybe Hines will talk some sense into him, like Bettis talked to Hines.

kirklandrules wrote:

I would be very surprised if he plays next year. Troy seems to be more honest about his performance than most players.

Quite honestly, I'm surprised he played this long. Clearly, he loves football, but it doesn't define him. I always thought he'd be like Barry Sanders and walk away too soon rather than too late.

For Troy, it's not about money or having something to prove. I just don't see him playing anywhere else.

I kinda get the sense Troy is waiting for the Steelers to tell him he won't be on the team. Why shut the door if there's still hope? But I think he's done.

kirklandrules wrote:

I kinda get the sense Troy is waiting for the Steelers to tell him he won't be on the team. Why shut the door if there's still hope? But I think he's done.

We all know Troy is first class. I agree he will wait until he is told he won't be back to retire a Steeler. I'm glad we have had him all these years and like Hines,Jerome and all the ones (true Steelers in every sense) before him he will be missed.

For selfish reasons I don't want him to retire. The practical part of my brain says it's time to let him ride off into the sunset (as a Steeler of course)

Quote :

Farrior: Wouldn’t Look Right To See Polamalu In Another Uniform

PITTSBURGH (KDKA 93-7 The Fan)- Former Steelers linebacker James Farrior joined Bob Pompeani Saturday to talk about the Steelers.

They discussed Troy Polamalu’s future, and Farrior said that it would be hard to see Polamalu play for another team if the Steelers release him.

“Everybody knows Troy as a Steeler, and I’m sure if he does go on to play a few more years, then people probably won’t remember those last few years. They’ll always remember Troy as a Steeler,” Farrior said. “It wouldn’t look right to me, him being in another uniform.”

Farrior told Pompeani that Polamalu is not the same player that he used to be, and Polamalu has to think about whether he would be happy in a role where he doesn’t play every down.

“If he wants to accept a lesser role, then maybe that’s a situation he might think about. But if he doesn’t want to do that, then I think it’s time to give it up,” Farrior said.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/03/07/james-farrior-wouldnt-look-right-to-see-polamalu-in-another-uniform/

Quote :

Polamalu still unsure of future

By Scott Brown | ESPN.com

The Pittsburgh Steelers hope Troy Polamalu retires so they are not forced to release him, a source close to the iconic safety confirmed to ESPN.com.

Polamalu remains undecided about his future, according to the source, but he is considering suiting up in 2015 to show the Steelers that he can still play. The situation, however, would have to be right, the source said, for Polamalu to play for another team after spending 12 seasons with the Steelers.

"Troy is still determining whether he wants to retire or try and play in 2015," his agent, Marvin Demoff, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "We will make a decision fairly soon, but (it is) not imminent."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12420993/pittsburgh-steelers-hope-troy-polamalu-retires-not-release-him

A really good article by Kovacevic ...

Quote :

Troy will depart with pride

Troy Polamalu is done, and he knows it.

That’s not a prediction, and it’s anything but a putdown. It’s just the best possible way to summarize years of being around this remarkable individual and paying heed to his own words and actions as related to how he’d someday be forced to walk away from football.

Allow me, please, to piece together the picture:

In June 2011, shortly before the Steelers signed Polamalu to an extension aimed at keeping him in the fold through retirement, I wrote publicly that I was enthusiastically in favor of that extension. But before doing so, I placed a call to Marvin Demoff, Polamalu’s longstanding and highly respected agent, in large part to ask what might happen if his client no longer could perform and, thus, put the Steelers into the terrible position of having to release a legend.

“You know Troy. That’s not Troy,” Demoff said. “He’s not the type to keep playing when he’s not at a high level. No offense, but he’s not going to be Brett Favre.”

It sounded convincing, but now we’ve come to that day.

READ MORE: http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/2015/03/06/friday-insider-troy-will-depart-with-pride/

I say move him to FS and let him ball hog it one year to run out his current (and final) contract.

Quote :

Ward hopes Steelers can work things out with Polamalu

Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

If anyone knows what Troy Polamalu might be going through as he determines whether to retire or play in 2015, perhaps for someone other than the Steelers, it is Hines Ward.

“They tell you when you come into the league, play as long as you can,’’ Ward said Thursday from his home in Atlanta. “I would hate to see Troy in another uniform. I just think some way, some how, they can figure out something to work things out.”

The Steelers never gave Ward that chance, never gave him the kind of time they are allowing Polamalu to come to terms that his career might be over. What became Black and Old Friday occurred March 2, 2012, when the Steelers released three of their most iconic veterans — Ward, Aaron Smith and James Farrior.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2015/03/13/Ward-hopes-Steelers-can-work-things-out-with-Polamalu/stories/201503130183

Truth be told, Ward could have been 50 years old, in a wheel chair, and still felt blindsided when the Steelers let him go. Reality sometimes is a tough thing to face.

Ward's point about finding a role for him sounds nice. However, you have to consider what Troy was all about. It was his explosiveness both getting to the point of attack and then through the ball carrier. As a pure safety, he wasn't spectacular. That might sounds like an insult, but the fact is that he wasn't an awesome coverage guy in college and that wasn't his game in the pros. He was about blowing up the play with his reactions and that explosiveness. Now that those parts of his game have diminished, what role do you want him to play? Not like you're going to line him up to cover Gronk or a back out of the backfield.
This game has changed and his skills have diminished, that's the reality and it does suck.

kirklandrules wrote:

Ward's point about finding a role for him sounds nice. However, you have to consider what Troy was all about. It was his explosiveness both getting to the point of attack and then through the ball carrier. As a pure safety, he wasn't spectacular. That might sounds like an insult, but the fact is that he wasn't an awesome coverage guy in college and that wasn't his game in the pros. He was about blowing up the play with his reactions and that explosiveness. Now that those parts of his game have diminished, what role do you want him to play? Not like you're going to line him up to cover Gronk or a back out of the backfield.

That's spot on. Troy would not have been as effective if he had been asked to play a more traditional safety role. Coverage was never his strength. What he lacked in "skill," he more than made up for in instincts and athleticism. He could be completely out of position and then recover and make an outstanding play. But now he can't get his body to do what it was once able to do. He has lost what made him special. Even in his prime he would have been just an above-average safety (at best) if asked to play a traditional safety role, so I'm not sure why anyone would expect him to be effective now with diminished ability. He can no longer do what made him special, so he'd be asked to do what he was never particularly good at. Keeping him on the team would be a case of hanging on to a legend out of nostalgia.

As I said earlier, I always thought that Troy would be the kind of player who knew when to walk away. I always suspected he'd leave too soon rather than too late. Looks like I was wrong. He should have retired a year ago.