Mark Cerny

Mike Logan says Troy Polamalu was drafted to take his job but ended up saving his life just because of how good of a person he is “Troy Polamalu is one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met in my life. Every space he walks into, he makes it better, and he leaves it better. Troy Polamalu came in to take my position. He was drafted to take my position.” “I got hurt in the ’03 playoff game, and they were like, ‘We’ve got to upgrade this position.’ Bill Cowher told me that. He said, ‘We moved up to draft a safety in the first round. What are you going to do, bro?’ I went to training camp coming off another knee injury. I injured my other knee. Posterior reconstruction, hamstring reattachment, meniscus tear, LCL. Man, I came back and was balling.” “Watching Troy, I was like, ‘This dude, it’s coming. I might vote for him to play.’ After training camp, though, I ended up winning the starting job. Troy was just trying to get the concept. He was moving too fast. He had to slow down and learn the game. And we developed a great rapport.” “I remember at training camp, they were talking about getting his contract done. He didn’t even want to hold out, but his agent was telling him to hold out. He came to training camp up in Latrobe, and they lost his bag. He came and knocked on my door and said, ‘Man, I don’t have anything.’ I was like, ‘Bro, whatever you want, you got it. You can have it, whatever.’ From that moment, it was just like, this dude is different. He walked into my dorm and made it better. When he left, he made it better. He was so gracious for me offering anything to him.” “Then I started watching him. He was watching me, but I was watching him. This dude used to go during our breaks and just walk through the paths up at St. Vincent. He’s a real spiritual man. He was praying, and he would be walking. I just observed him. Meanwhile, he was observing me on the field, and we developed a great rapport.” “I’ve never seen an individual take pride in everything that he does. Everything. The way he speaks to people, the way he greets people, the way he talks to his wife, the way he talks to his children, the way he talks to coaches, the way he talks to staff. I’ve never seen someone treat people the way he treats people.” “Man, seeing how Troy dealt with adversity. When he first came, he was struggling and trying to find his way. Culturally, he was a little different. I used to sit and watch Troy meditate and eat dried fruit in the middle of our DB room.” “Like I told y’all, I was dealing with some turbulence in my life at that time. It was falling apart, and money couldn’t save it. Football couldn’t save it. It was a dark time for me. Dark. I was like, ‘If I’m not happy being the most successful I’ve ever been, then what’s going to happen after this? What’s going to happen when it gets darker for me?’ I knew the writing was on the wall because Troy was there. I’m thinking, ‘This is going to be his position. I’m going to be out of the league. What am I going to do?’” “Just having conversations with this dude, man. Sitting down and eating lunch with him, observing how he was and how he connected with his spirit. I used to watch him walking through the paths and trails. And guess who started walking those paths and trails afterward?” “I was ashamed of it, though. I didn’t want anybody to see me. But I’m walking through them. I got so much serenity walking those paths. I saw how he was able to deal with those things. When I got into those dark times, I reflected on Troy. I found different paths to walk, and I just mimicked him. He never knew that. He never knew that until I put it out there.” “Troy gave me a shout-out in his Hall of Fame speech. ‘Mike Logan, the starting safety my rookie year, shared his full knowledge of the game, wholeheartedly showing a level of humility that helped shape my career. Like many other teammates, his selflessness paved the greater opportunity for others at his own expense. It is unnatural in the most competitive environment to train your replacement. Yet this is our culture. Steeler culture.’” “That’s big, bro. That moment is his. He didn’t have to talk about anybody. He could have talked about everything he wanted to do, what he did to get him to that podium. This dude called me out by name.” “When me and my kids went up to Canton, Ohio, they’re playing this speech. ‘Did he say Logan? Did he say Logan?’ He didn’t have to do that, man. Like I said, that dude makes every space he walks into better, and he leaves it better than he found it.” “It made me intentional about speaking out and calling people out who’ve helped me along the way. Sometimes we take for granted the small things. But how good that made me feel, in probably the most significant moment of his NFL career, to say what somebody did for him. He said Mike Logan shared his full wealth of knowledge with me. I didn’t even know I was doing that. And for him to remember it on that grand of a stage, to me, is the ultimate homage being paid to someone.” “That dude is different, but I wish everybody was like him. If we had a world full of people who had his personality and carried themselves the way he does, what a beautiful thing, man. I got better after he said my name in the Hall of Fame speech. I got better after that.”