Dick LeBeau Detailed How Mad Steelers Great Troy Polamalu Made Him When He Nearly Put His 'Family Members At Risk'

One of the most underappreciated coaches in not only Pittsburgh Steelers' history, but in NFL history, is the great Dick LeBeau. He was a two-time Super Bowl champion, Sporting News Coordinator of the Year in 2008, and was inducted into the Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame. That is just talking about his time as a coach, LeBeau was an impressive player as well. He was a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback and was a part of the Detroit Lions' legendary secondary in the '60s. During his career, he recorded an insane 62 interceptions that helped his case for him to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Troy Polamalu Was The Face Of The Steelers Organization

During LeBeau's time as a coach, he was given the opportunity to coach many great players on the defensive side of the ball. One player that stands out above the rest is Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu. He was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2010, an eight-time Pro Bowler, an NFL 2000s All-Decade Team member, and much more. Polamalu was the face of the Steelers organization for years and is arguably the greatest safety to ever play the game. LeBeau would note on the All Things Covered podcast with former Steelers defensive back Bryant McFadden that Polamalu was one of the most innate and intuitive players that he had ever coached. This is what made Polamalu so special.

"Troy is one of the most instinctive players that I've ever seen, and I think that was very obvious to anyone who watched him play." LeBeau then stated, "I realized that he just had an innate ability to sense and diagnose formation."

"He intercepted that ball in the end zone, and we had the game won. He took off running with it late in the fourth quarter and the only thing that could possibly be bad for us would be if he ran it out there and fumbled it," LeBeau continued. "When the game is won you get on the ground. Well Troy took off on that, and not only did he run it, but he also threw a lateral back over his shoulder."

The play that LeBeau was referring to was from a game way back in 2010. Polamalu had already returned one errant pass for a touchdown and was looking to make the Cincinnati Bengals pay again. But with the Steelers ahead 23-7 nearing the two-minute warning there was no need for Polamalu to make such a risky play. 

"I went to him, and I said, 'Troy, you can't do that. This is a family. You put all your family members at risk out there throwing that ball around when we had the game won.'" LeBeau finished the story by saying, "I looked around, he'd come back and there's a picture of him and I'm hugging him, and he has his head down. That is my favorite Troy memory."

Both of them have shown that they are a family throughout their entire career and have become great people on and off the field. Through charity work and being involved within the community, these two have brought more than just Super Bowl victories to the city of Pittsburgh. They helped forge the Steelers into what they are today.

So, what do you think Steeler Nation? What do you remember best from LeBeau?