PITTSBURGH — The news of Troy Polamalu’s retirement was met with both sadness and celebration.
One of the best people and most dominant players is walking away from the sport he helped define for more than a decade.
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Polamalu’s exit truly marks the end of an era, and his admirers in Pittsburgh, those around the NFL, and many others far beyond football, are honoring a profound and powerful contribution to the league.
It’s ironic. For all his greatness on the field, Troy Polamalu’s greatest legacy will be the impact he’s had as a person, as a husband, as a father.
Anyone who knows even a little bit about Polamalu knows that his family and his faith supersede everything else.
In a short statement upon his retirement, Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney lauded Troy’s rare traits.
“He did everything with dignity and responsibility,” Rooney said.
The first time I met Troy Polamalu was a late-spring day in 2003.
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As the new number-one draft pick for the Steelers, he was ushered into the media room at the team's South Side headquarters and introduced to the Pittsburgh media.
It was the beginning of a spectacular 12-year career that would include eight Pro Bowl seasons, three Super Bowl appearances, two Super Bowl championships and NFL Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors in 2010.
Polamalu soared to superstardom, earning the distinction as arguably the NFL's most dominant defensive player of the past decade.
Of course there was also Troy's famous, flowing hair -- a magnificent mane that helped propel him into pop culture icon status.
I have many memories of Polamalu, some very personal stories that played out far away from his football heroics or structured locker room interviews.
At the top of the list might be Polamalu's visit to WPXI in the fall of 2008.
It was a Tuesday night in October in the season leading up to the most recent of the Steelers' six Super Bowl wins.
Troy was there for a quick appearance on the Charlie Batch Show.
As it turned out, he stayed for much of the night.
Troy followed my every move with an uncommon curiosity.
I led Polamalu from the control room to the newsroom, then to the news studio, where he spent a few minutes pretending to do the weather on the green screen.
Troy didn't want any proof of his "audition" and insisted that we not record his moments of television meteorology.
After pointing his way through the five-day forecast, Troy sat on the news set and read a few lines from the teleprompter.
The tour continued with a stop by an editing suite, the green room, and finally, the sports department, where Polamalu's inquisitive side was on full display.
"Alby, what's your daily schedule? How late are you here every night? How do you keep track of so many games on all these televisions?" Polamalu said.
Only a couple weeks later, Troy and his wife Theodora would welcome their first child. But on this night, Theodora was still very much an expectant mother-to-be.
Theodora was clearly ready to go home, but she waited patiently as her husband continued his barrage of questions.
"Do you get nervous when you're on television? Where do you get all your information?" he asked.
Troy finally decided, almost reluctantly, that it was time to leave, and as I escorted him to the front lobby door, he shook my hand and asked if he'd be able to come back.
That was absolutely the plan, but I'm sorry to say it never happened.
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My funniest memory of Polamalu came nearly two years later, at training camp, during a short conversation after dinner in the Saint Vincent College cafeteria.
Troy told me that his wife was expecting their second child, and I joked that he'd "have to switch from double-team to man-to-man."
Troy smiled and responded in almost a whisper, "I think I can handle that."
On Veterans Day in 2013, Troy agreed to have a few locks of his hair cut off as part of "The Mane Event" at Heinz Field.
It was a highly-publicized charity function to help the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Troy was gracious as always, but preoccupied, even uptight, as I prepared to interview him.
He was nervous because his young sons, Paisios and Ephraim, were sprinting from one end of the Heinz Field Press Box to the other.
No one thought twice about the innocent frolicking, except, of course, Troy, who apologized repeatedly for the boisterous behavior of his sons.
He might have wondered to himself if it was time to shift to a zone defense!
Troy Polamalu is one of only a handful of post-1970s Steelers who is worthy of being mentioned with them.
His talent was matched only by his humility and by a staunch commitment to a unique set of values.
I’ve never met anyone like him, and I don’t believe I ever will.