University Southern California Trojans
Polamalu a One-man Wrecking Crew for Trojans
November 15, 2001 | Football
Nov. 15, 2001
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES - Sometimes it seems there's a whole group of Southern California Trojans wearing No. 43, blocking punts, returning interceptions for touchdowns, forcing fumbles, smacking punt returners to the ground.
Actually, there's only one - Troy Polamalu, playing "Fa'a Samoan" style. That roughly translates, he says, to being a gentleman everywhere but on the football field.
While USC is only 5-5 and needs a victory over No. 20 UCLA on Saturday to be eligible for a bowl berth, Polamalu truly has been a star for the Trojans.
The junior strong safety and special teams leader has made 96 tackles, second in the Pac-10, with 10 for losses. He's returned two interceptions for touchdowns, forced two fumbles, blocked two punts and generally is all over the field.
"He's such a fantastic player," USC coach Pete Carroll said, likening Polamalu to players he's coached in the NFL.
"I have coached some of the best safeties around and Troy's as good as all the guys I have coached," Carroll said. "He is creative, fast, tough and instinctive. He has a great heart, which all great players have."
Trojans quarterback Carson Palmer regards his teammate as simply the best player in the Pac-10, saying, "He's the complete package."
Polamalu, deeply religious and uncommonly humble, downplays his accomplishments, crediting the coaching staff with using him in the right places at the right times.
"They have put me in position where I can make plays, they put me where I can do nothing but," he said. "A lot of people say, `Wow, you get a lot of tackles, you're doing this, you're doing that.' But they don't understand it's the whole makeup of our defense.
"I think you could put any other safety in the Pac-10 in there and they would do as well or better."
Polamalu, who was born in Garden Grove, Calif., and was a three-sport star at Douglas High after moving to Winston, Ore., explained his Samoan approach to the game: "On the field, play it like a game of life, give it everything you have."
"It's my background, being raised Fa'a Samoan," he said. "Being raised with a Christian background, I like to go out there and not only have fun while playing for God, but also having that intensity that Samoans have.
"There's a fine line, you don't go crazy and start killing people."
Several of his relatives also have been successful players, including uncle Kennedy Pola, a former USC fullback who's now the Trojans' special teams coordinator, uncle Al Pola, who played at Penn State, and cousin Nicky Sualua, who played at Ohio State and for Dallas and Cincinnati in the NFL.
"I think I had the love of football instilled in me," Polamalu said. "I watched my uncles and cousins play all the time. I think I was born with a football in my hands."
A recap of the Trojans' season reads a bit like a highlight film for Polamalu.
Even in their five losses, he put up impressive numbers. He had 13 tackles, 2{ for losses, against Kansas State, logged 10 tackles and blocked a punt against Stanford, had 13 tackles, two for losses, and returned a punt for a TD against Washington, and had 11 tackles and recovered a fumble to set up a score against Notre Dame.
The 5-foot-10, 210-pounder had perhaps his best game in a 16-13 overtime win over Oregon State on Nov. 3. He had 11 tackles, two for losses, deflected two passes, forced a fumble and blocked a punt that USC recovered for a touchdown.
Among those he's impressed is the coach who'll be on the other sideline for Saturday's game at the Los Angeles Coliseum - UCLA's Bob Toledo.
"I think he's a great football player. He's all over the field, he makes plays," Toledo said. "You'd better account for him because he's going to be around the football all the time."
