Patriots' Tom Brady Backs Steeler Troy Polamalu For Hall Of Fame

PITTSBURGH, PA - With voting on the new inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame occurring Saturday, former Steelers safety Troy Polamalu has received an unexpected endorsement in his first year of eligibility. It comes from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady released a statement through the Steelers praising Polamalu for his unpredictability and playmaking ability.

“One key to success for a quarterback is to study a lot of film in order to understand defensive tendencies and know how the defense will try to defend everything you are trying to do as an offense,” he said. “But that never worked against Troy. He was one of the most instinctive and disruptive players I have ever played against.

"Outside of his incredible athleticism, his greatest skill was his unpredictability. You could never quite get a bead on what he was doing, yet he was always around the ball. Troy was just a playmaker who you had to account for on every play. It was amazing to watch film on him and to try to understand how we knew where to be and when. If you wanted to find Troy, you just looked for where the ball was going and you would always find him.”

Polamalu played college football at the University of Southern California. He was chosen by the Steelers in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He a member of two of the Steelers' Super Bowl championship teams and was the NFL defensive player of the year in 2010.

Polamalu also was an eight time Pro-Bowler and a six time All-Pro selection.