Troy Polamalu’s icy relationship with the Steelers is apparently thawing now that the retired safety is finally attending a team-related function — tonight’s 80th Dapper Dan Dinner & Sports Auction that will honor former teammate Antonio Brown as Sportsman of the Year.
The former NFL Defensive Player of the Year was faced with an ultimatum at the end of the 2014-15 season. Retire or be released by the team who he played all 12 of his NFL seasons for. Polamalu ultimately chose retirement, but the situation left a bitter taste. The eight-time pro bowler has stayed away from the team completely since his retirement, including the team’s Super Bowl XL 10-year anniversary gathering last fall. He also failed to mention the Steelers in his Polynesian Hall of Fame enshrinement speech.
Polamalu still calls the city of Pittsburgh home, and made appearances at Pirates and Penguins games, but tonight’s banquet will his first publicly-known involvement with the Steelers since his retirement.
Polamalu had an offer from former Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau to join his new team the Tennessee Titans for the 2015 season, but Polamalu only wished to continue playing as a Steeler. He chose retirement over donning the uniform of another team.
“I don’t think that there’s any bad feelings on his part,” Marvin Demoff, his longtime agent, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I really don’t. I think that in his own way he just had to step away from football — ESPN, the NFL Network, anything involved in football.’’
“I think that’s true, that he was disappointed. But he didn’t want to pursue anything else other than the Steelers. He had other opportunities in broadcasting and playing. The answer was always no.”
Many members of the Steelers’ front office, including team president Art Rooney II, are expected to be in attendance at tonight’s proceedings, which seems to indicate Polamula has let go of any hard feelings he may have harbored towards the brain trust that forced him out.
