Troy Polamalu Retires

[DJ]

Both were great but I'd say Dawkins was a slightly better overall player.

 

[DutchBird]

Donovan McNabb was even more hyped.

To some extent, yeah. Based on what he had to work with, it already becomes a much murkier picture. And based on his numbers compared to those already in the HOF or those certain to be in the HOF, he apparently deserves to be there as well. Which says as much about how easy it is for QB's to get into the HOF as about McNabb himself.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Time really does go by WAY too fast..... One of the greatest safety's to EVER lace um up .... HOF bound for sure....

 

[DJ]

Reed was better

 

[DJ]

Black & yellow? In Pittsburgh, we wear black & GOLD.

I'm rockin' my #43 jersey today.

 

[Oldschool739]

538 did a piece that showed that Ed Reed's career Approximate Value was higher than Polamalu. I guess the hair and the hype counts for more than I realize?

C'mon man, this ain't about who was best between Ed and Troy, they were both great in their own way....Ed's not officially retired yet and Troy just did, it's a matter of respect for a great player.....I would expect that fans from other teams will say the same about Ed when he makes it official....
One thing we know is that both of them gave QB's serious nightmares ..

 

[Battlelyon]

For you to even laugh at that, is embarrassing. You can make a case for both players being better than each, Reed made a lot of big plays in the postseason. Of course no player has had more interceptions then Reed in the postseason. Different positions, but nothing wrong wit saying one player is better than the other.

 

[MISKO]

Fuck wiz he don't know shit

 

[Maximus Rex]

And apparently Dawkins beats them both in career approximate value.

Ah. And the DutchBird/Philly inferiority complex raises its ugly head. Can't say that Polamalu (and Reed, for the record) were both incredible players in a retirement thread, gotta throw in the Philly angle. Oh well, it's probably the refs' fault, right?

 

[PatsFan2003]

I'd give Reed the nod as the better safety over Polamalu just because his ball hawking skills were just so disruptive in his prime. It's just one case but Brady was positively spooked when he played against Reed. Polamalu not so much.

 

[DutchBird]

Ah. And the DutchBird/Philly inferiority complex raises its ugly head. Can't say that Polamalu (and Reed, for the record) were both incredible players in a retirement thread, gotta throw in the Philly angle. Oh well, it's probably the refs' fault, right?

Butthurt much?

It was Steelers fans who brought up the notion of Polamalu being one of the all time greats. It was someone else who brought up the stat about INT's and such since 2003, with Polamalu and Reed (a stat which Dawkins did not make solely because of the time-line cutt off). It was ducky who brought up Polamalu and Reed being the best of the era, to which someone else added Harrison. Others who stated he would be a definite 1st ballot HOF. I disagreed and stated why.

Will Polamalu get into the HOF? Probably. Is he deserving? Arguably - more so because it seems to be very hard for safeties to get in (i.e. the standards for safeties to get in seems to be a lot higher than that for QB's, WR's and RB's), rather than anything else. Is he deserving to go in over Dawkins? No.

Did he have a great career? Yes. Did he make spectacular and memorable plays? Yes. And I would probably rank him 3rd or 4th best safety of the 2000's.

It is you who seems to infer that I do not consider Polamalu great/incredible players.

 

[PatsFan2003]

Safeties seem to have a harder time than other positions getting into the HOF. This past decade or so the position has become more critical to a teams success. Imo Reed, Polamalu, Harrison and Dawkins are all worthy. If they get in is one question. When could be the other.

And yeah I'd put Reed at the top.

 

[Sgt Brutus]

Hate the Steelers but nothing but respect for troy

 

[cowboys5xsbs]

Troy Polamalu's retirement spotlights Hall of Fame's lack of safeties | The MMQB with Peter King

"Put another damning way: No safety who has played in an NFL game in the past 35 seasons is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame."

"Regarding the Hall conundrum: Dawkins will be eligible for election in 2017, Reed in 2019, Polamalu in 2020. John Lynch has been a consistent finalist for election recently, but he hasn’t been close yet. There are five modern-era finalists elected each year, max, and in the next three years, there will be heavy traffic at the doors of Canton. Brett Favre, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, LaDainian Tomlinson, Ray Lewis, Randy Moss, Tony Gonzalez and Brian Urlacher all will have their first years of eligibility in the next four years, so the battle for safeties will only get tougher."

Wow this article is pretty interesting.