Congratulations to Troy Polamalu on his Hall of Fame selection. I have made the case for why I believe he is a Hall of Famer before, so no need to rehash that debate. I was thinking about the top safeties I have watched play (so mid 80s to now) and I would rank them as follows…Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed (ugh, I hate to say that, but it is true), Troy, Brian Dawkins, and John Lynch.
Anyways, I want to tell a funny story about a guy that used to work for me way back in the day when I lived in Pittsburgh. This guy was older, but a very hard worker and super nice. He would always tell us that he lived near Troy Pomalomalu (that is how he always said it). The one day he did not have a ride to work, and Troy pulls up and asks him where he is walking to and he says “well Mr.Pomalomalu, I am walking to work.” Troy offered him a ride because it was really cold.
Now, I have no clue whether or not it is true. I can tell you that the old guy did live up in that area of Wexford, so it is quite possible. I just laugh thinking about Troy Polamalu, who always seemed like a down-to-earth kind of guy (remember when he went to a WPIAL playoff game with his family?) and one of the most well-known Steelers in the city, picking this guy up and him absolutely butchering his last name.
I should mention that if you corrected that old guy with how to pronounce Polamalu, he would say “yeah, Pomalomalu, what I said.”
