Troy Polamalu's retirement marks end of an era for Steelers

The modern-day version of the Steel Curtain has finally closed for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The reality truly hit home when news broke of Troy Polamalu's retirement.

The players and assistant coach who helped comprise one of the NFL's greatest defenses for more than a decade have gradually left the organization in recent years. Departures earlier this offseason included mastermind coordinator Dick LeBeau and mainstays like cornerback Ike Taylor and defensive end Brett Keisel.

The decision of a future Pro Football Hall of Fame safety to call it quits Thursday night punctuated the end of a glorious era that saw the Steelers win two Super Bowls, reach a third and make the playoffs four other times during Polamalu's 12-year NFL career.

"It's part of the business obviously that there is change (and) turnover," Steelers president Art Rooney II said Friday morning following the official announcement of Polamalu's retirement. "Certainly with the group that is leaving us this year, it's a pretty special group. It's probably time to turn that page."

But what a book of work Polamalu left behind.

It wasn't just the long black locks flowing out of his helmet or his soft-spoken off-field demeanor that made Polamalu different from other safeties. Nobody played the position in the same dynamic fashion.

LeBeau gave his blessing for Polamalu to roam the field and make decisions based upon what he read from opposing offenses. Polamalu took full advantage of such liberty to post 32 career interceptions, 14 forced fumbles and 12 sacks.

"I have to admit there were times when you'd see a play coming and Troy would be on the line and you'd think, 'What's going on?'" Rooney said with a laugh. "And then all of a sudden he'd be in the backfield making a sack-fumble.

"At times, it was a little scary in terms of the free rein that he had. But obviously more often than not it turned out to be a big play that he was making. That was what made Troy special."

Like any defensive player, Polamalu could sometimes get caught out of position. But former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick said that to describe Polamalu primarily as a freelancer "belies the fact he was so intelligent in the way that he did it."

"There are times it leaves you vulnerable," Billick said of Polamalu's style. "It does put a lot of pressure on the players who play around you. But he's going to help you out a whole lot more than he's going to hurt you."

The Ravens were mortally wounded by Polamalu in two key games. In the 2008 AFC Championship game, Polamalu returned a Joe Flacco interception for a 40-yard touchdown that sealed Pittsburgh's victory. Polamalu also registered a strip-sack of Flacco late during a key 2010 regular-season game that Pittsburgh won en route to snaring the AFC North crown and later reaching another Super Bowl.

For years, Billick said he would give his quarterbacks preparatory advice about where Polamalu might be in certain down-and-distance scenarios until realizing such attempts were proving futile.

"I finally just gave up," Billick said. "To pretend I could do film analysis and say, 'In this situation he's going to roll in the middle or down toward the line (of scrimmage) or jump underneath that out-cut,' I've got no clue.

"He always seemed to be where he shouldn't be: At the wrong time if you're an opponent, at the right time if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers."

To his credit, Polamalu realized it was the right time to retire less than two weeks before his 34th birthday. Polamalu's play was starting to noticeably decline. His injury history, including multiple concussions, is lengthy.

The Steelers tried to handle the situation as gently as possible, which also reflects the respect Polamalu had earned inside the organization. The Steelers didn't cut Polamalu earlier this offseason — a move that would have freed $3.8 million in salary-cap space when the free-agent market opened — but his release was inevitable if he didn't walk away.

Shamarko Thomas, a 2013 fourth-round draft pick, will have the first crack at becoming Pittsburgh's new starting strong safety. Rooney, though, admits "the reality is you don't replace Troy Polamalu."

"You don't even try to think in those terms," Rooney said. "You just try to make sure that we do everything we can to make sure our defense across the board is as good as it can be this year."

That means greatly improving the secondary and quarterback pressure from last season when the Steelers surrendered the most passing yards (4,049) in franchise history. Pittsburgh's best pass rusher may be the last remaining defensive player from the 2005 and 2008 Steelers teams that captured Lombardi Trophies in outside linebacker James Harrison — and he turns 37 in May.

Yet while the rebuilding challenge for LeBeau's replacement Keith Butler is daunting, Rooney believes Polamalu's legacy can still have a positive effect on the 2015 Steelers.

"Obviously, a lot of the guys that are on the team now have benefited from being Troy's teammate for the past few years," Rooney said. "It's up to them to kind of take those lessons and turn them into something positive this year."

Otherwise, it will be curtains for the unit that Polamalu now leaves behind.

Alex Marvez and co-host Ross Tucker interviewed Art Rooney II and Brian Billick on SiriusXM NFL Radio.