Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu was a guest with Bryant McFadden on Radio Row at the Super Bowl for CBS Sports, and McFadden asked him if he was going for an open-field tackle, would he rather face Jamal Lewis or Maurice Jones-Drew. That led Polamalu to bring up a story about how he was afraid to face Lewis in his rookie season in 2003.
“Jamal Lewis, my rookie year, he ran for 2,000 yards. I did not want to play football when I experienced that. I was so happy I was not starting, Mike Logan was starting, I’m like ‘please Mike, you start,'” Polamalu said. “It was Mike Logan and Brent Alexander. So they were starting and I was a rookie so I did not want to play this dude. Cause dude, he ran for 2,000 yards, his lower body was the size of Casey Hampton.”
“I was like man, I did not want to face this dude.”
Lewis is one of the most prolific backs in NFL history, running for 10,607 yards in his career, and his 2003 season with the Baltimore Ravens was the best of his career. That season, Polamalu played in all 16 games but didn’t start, while Lewis motored for 2,066 yards and 14 touchdowns and won the Offensive Player of the Year award.
Polamalu did have 48 tackles, four passes defensed and two sacks as a rookie, but he wasn’t able to bring down Lewis until his second season in the league, which gave him the confidence he needed to show he could stick in the NFL.
“That next year when I played and I started, I tackled him. And that’s when I knew I could play in this league. Because I tackled this dude that I really feared a year ago.”
Polamalu went on to become a player that offenses didn’t want to play against. His ability to get downhill or make plays in coverage, or even jump over the line of scrimmage, made him one of the most feared defenders in the NFL. He was the ultimate playmaker and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame where he belongs. But early in his career, he needed to develop the mindset that he could play with and among the best, and bringing Lewis down for a stop helped him do that.
The mental game is such a big and occasionally overlooked part of sports. A simple Polamalu tackle on Lewis may not mean much to the casual viewer or fan or even his teammates or coaches, but for Polamalu, it was a sign that he could put it together and stick in the NFL. With six All-Pro appearances and a Defensive Player of the Year win to his name, he more than proved he could be an NFL player.
Watch the full interview between Polamalu and McFadden below.
