Dick LeBeau and Troy Polamalu had a special relationship. It was LeBeau who helped mold Polamalu into the Hall of Fame player he became, and they were two quiet guys off the field with the highest of character. Spending a decade together, the two created too many memories to count. But one sticks out above the rest.
Appearing on the All Things Covered podcast with Bryant McFadden in an episode that aired Monday, LeBeau shared his favorite Polamalu memory.
“Do you remember when he intercepted that ball in the end zone?” LeBeau said. “We had the game won and he took off running with it late in the fourth quarter. And the only thing that could possibly bad happen to us, that could happen to us, would be if he ran it out there and fumbled it and then they got the ball back and got a first down. And you know how much I preached to you guys about, ‘Hey, running’s great, but when you’ve got the game won, just get on the ground.’ Well, Troy took off on that and not only did he run it, he threw a lateral back over his shoulder.”
That occurred in the final two minutes of team’s 2010 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Polamalu picked off QB Carson Palmer one-yard deep into the end zone. Instead of taking a knee, he ran it out and right before he was tackled, flipped the ball across the field to McFadden. Polamalu had played on a bad ankle and ostensibly was avoiding getting hit with the ball or trying to make a man miss because of his injury.
Here’s a look at the moment.
One that can be laughed about now, especially knowing it didn’t cost Pittsburgh the win. But LeBeau didn’t find it so funny.
“I went to Troy and I said, ‘Troy, you can’t do that.’ I said, ‘this is a family. You put all your family members at risk out there throwing that damn ball around when we’ve got the game won.’ And Troy walked away and he was gone about 45 to 50 seconds and I looked around and here he comes back. And there’s a picture of him and I and I’m hugging him. And he’s got his head down and that’s my favorite Troy Polamalu moment because he was such a leader and such a charismatic player, and yet no one cared any more or felt any worse if he did anything at all that really wasn’t in the most extreme team concept.”
That photo LeBeau is referring to is the one you see at the top of the page. A touching moment between two future Hall of Famers that summed up their relationship. LeBeau wanted the best for his players and for his team. Polamalu just didn’t want to disappoint his coach.
Here’s a video snippet of the moment, LeBeau tapping Polamalu between the ears before giving him a hug.
It was one of seven interceptions Polamalu recorded that year, making the Pro Bowl and receiving an All-Pro bid. He had 32 of them in his incredible career and would’ve had more had it not been for a series of injuries that slowed his play down. In that 2010 season, he missed two games and still picked off seven passes, an average of one every other game.
As LeBeau talked about in our interview with him earlier in the offseason, Polamalu was the most instinctive player LeBeau ever coached. And he was in the NFL for a long time. Polamalu pushed the boundaries of what a safety could do and was given rare freedom to align how he wanted to so long as he carried out his assignment once the ball was snapped.
For LeBeau, that memory – and that picture – is something he’ll cherish forever.
“But I got that picture of me and Troy and of course the picture don’t say everything that I just said. And that’s my favorite, favorite moment with Troy,” he said.
Listen to the entire hour-long conversation between McFadden and LeBeau through the link below.
