Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu was a guest on radio row ahead of the Super Bowl with Bryant McFadden on CBS Sports, and Polamalu talked about his feelings after being the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. After the initial excitement, Polamalu’s feelings turned to wondering if that was really it.
“Oh man, Super Bowl 40. Here’s one thing where I’ll be very frank with you on Super Bowl 40. It may be too deep of an answer. Super Bowl 40, I remember walking off the field thinking, this is it? I remember thinking to myself, man, I thought the whole world was supposed to stop. I thought everybody in China was supposed to stop their markets and celebrate our victories. But the world kept going on. So I was like, dang, are you telling me in order to feel that momentary-like satisfaction, I gotta go through all of that to do it again. So to me it was kind of like, dang, it was such a short moment of celebration. So when Super Bowl 43 came around, I really enjoyed that celebration,” Polamalu said.
When you reach the peak in something, it can be hard to fully process the achievement. Especially in sports, once you reach the mountaintop and experience something you’ve reached your whole life to achieve, it can feel kind of empty. The same thing happened to UConn basketball head coach Dan Hurley after his team won the National Championship in 2023, as it can be hard to fully realize what you just accomplished and grappling with “is that all?” after reaching the peak of achievement in your sport.
It seems that’s what happened with Polamalu, but he was able to make it to the Super Bowl again in 2008 and win again, as the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. After already winning the Super Bowl once and going through a lot to get there, Polamalu was able to better recognize the magnitude of the team’s achievement and what it meant for the Steelers to once again hoist the Lombardi Trophy. He also made the key block on James Harrison’s interception return touchdown.
Polamalu was a key cog of both Super Bowl teams, as he was a first-team All-Pro in 2005 and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting with two interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and three sacks to go along with 92 total tackles. In 2008, Polamalu finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was again an All-Pro, racking up seven interceptions, 17 passes defensed and 73 total tackles.
An all-time great for the Steelers, it’s good that Polamalu got to truly recognize and celebrate winning a Super Bowl after the initial disappointment and wondering if that’s all there was in 2005.
