Name	Troy Polamalu
Height	5'10
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	April 19, 1981
Place of Birth	Garden Grove, California
Famous for

He is of Samoan descent. Despite Polamalu's hard-hitting style on the gridiron, he is known off-the-field as a soft-spoken, Christian family man.

Polamalu is an Eastern Orthodox Christian, having converted through the influence of his wife Theodora. Among his spiritual activities is a pilgrimage to Greek Orthodox sites in Greece and Turkey, taken in 2007. He seldom gives interviews, but when he does, he often speaks of the role his spirituality plays in his life. Polamalu has said that he tries to separate himself from his profession as much as possible, like not watching football games at home. He says a prayer after each play and also on the sidelines.

Troy attended Douglas High School in Winston, Oregon, where he was a three-sport letterman in: baseball, basketball, and football. He played football for four years as a running back and defensive back. As a senior, he was an All-Far West selection in football, and an All-State center fielder in baseball; in basketball, he was a two-time all-league player.

In his career as a 3-year starter at the University of Southern California, Polamalu recorded 278 tackles (29 for losses), 6 interceptions (3 returned for TDs), 13 deflections, 2 fumble recoveries and 4 blocked punts. He was also a roommate to current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. He majored in general studies.

Polamalu was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers 16th overall in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft. The Chargers, who had the 15th overall pick, had a major need at safety to replace the departed Rodney Harrison but instead chose to go with quantity over quality forgoing the opportunity to select Troy by trading down and getting Sammy Davis and Terrence Kiel. The Steelers, ecstatic that Polamalu slid past the Chargers, quickly made a move to bring Polamalu to their team. The Steelers believed so much that Polamalu could have a positive impact on their defense that they traded up from the 27th spot to the 16th spot, originally held by the Chiefs. The Steelers traded away the 92nd and 200th overall pick for the rights to switch first round picks and select Troy Polamalu. Essentially the trade was Polamalu for Larry Johnson, Julian Battle and Brooks Bollinger (the Bollinger pick was subsequently traded to the Jets in the same draft). He has the distinction of being the only safety ever drafted by the Steelers in the first round.

He is recognized when playing for the Steelers due to the large mane of curly hair coming out of his helmet and past his shoulders. Polamalu is considered to be one of the more cerebral players in the NFL and is becoming the new face of the Steelers' defense.