End of a Era - Palmolive retires from Steelers

Troy Polamalu has informed the Steelers he will retire from the NFL after 12 seasons.

Polamalu announced his decision in an interview with Scout.com's Jim Wexell on Thursday night.

"I did not seriously consider playing elsewhere," Polamalu told Wexell. "It was just whether or not I wanted to play. I had talked to a lot of people about what I should do with my situation, and what they kept saying back to me, and which was not a sufficient reason, was 'Troy, you played 12 years in the NFL, you won Super Bowls, won individual awards. There's nothing left to prove. You have a legacy.' And I just kept saying, 'First of all, I don't care about a legacy. Second of all, I play the game because I enjoy it.' That's the reason to keep playing."

Polamalu said he mulled retirement in February, but did not finalize his decision until this week. He said he told Steelers owner Dan Rooney on Thursday evening.

"If I'm in my fourth year, fifth year, even if I'm in my 10th year, I'm playing in Alaska," Polamalu told Wexell. "But when I started this process and started to debate whether I should come back or should I play, that was kind of the sign for me to say 'Whoa, if you're just even debating it maybe you shouldn't play anymore,' because what I do know about this game is it takes a lot, a lot, of commitment just to be an average player."

Polamalu missed four games last year with a sprained knee, an injury that slowed him in his final season. But the eight-time Pro Bowler will go down as one of the greats in Steelers history and will have a bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the near future.

A five-time All-Pro selection, Polamalu was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 while leading the Steelers to an AFC championship. The Steelers were beaten by the Packers in Super Bowl XLV, but Polamalu helped Pittsburgh win Super Bowl XL and XLIII.

The only safety the Steelers have ever drafted in the first round, the former USC star has 32 career interceptions, 14 forced fumbles and 12 sacks to go with three defensive touchdowns.

Polamalu has two sons, 7-year-old Paisios and 5-year-old Ephram, and family played an important role in his decision to hang it up.

"It's all about family," he told Wexell. "I live here in Pittsburgh now, and since the end of the season I've had a chance to enjoy my family on a level I never had before. It was awesome.

"Maybe it was a sign for me to retire when I chase my kids around and couldn't catch them. It was either a sign for me to retire or a sign for them to begin training."

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Midswat said:

my buddies wife has an old college friend who went home with Ben... creepy story there

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