PITTSBURGH \u2013<\/span> Strong safety Troy Polamalu has become known around the Pittsburgh Steelers as the last guy out of the locker room on Sundays after home games. All of his teammates are long gone and even most of the equipment guys have cleared out by the time he emerges. Polamalu goes through a detailed process, including a dip in a cold tub and a lengthy shower to relax after a hard-hitting afternoon.<\/p>\nHowever, for a guy who doesn\u2019t seem to be in a hurry to leave, Polamalu does put a serious priority on his time away from the field with his wife, Theodora, the sister of Polamalu\u2019s former USC teammate Alex Holmes.<\/p>\n
Polamalu took some after Sunday\u2019s [Sept \u201907<\/span>] win over the San Francisco 49ers to engage in a Q&A; with Yahoo! Sports.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> Do you have a routine you follow on your day off?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> We work out together because that\u2019s our only day off together. It\u2019s a pretty decent workout. She does a lot of running and I do a lot of stretching. Tuesday is also our only opportunity to go to church together, so we do that.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> When and where do you go?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> It starts at 8:30 (a.m.). \u2026 It\u2019s the Nativity of the Theotokos monastery (in Saxonburg, Pa.).<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> I know you\u2019re devoutly Christian (Polamalu has a carefully arranged series of religious items in his locker at Heinz Field), but exactly which denomination?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> Greek Orthodox. Theotokos literally means the Mother of God.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> How long are you in services?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> They usually go to about 12:30.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> That\u2019s a four-hour service. Is that a normal service?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> Pretty much, especially at a monastery.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> Can you describe it?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> What\u2019s really neat about the Orthodox church is that it\u2019s like walking back in time 2,000 years to the time of the Apostles, when they created these services. You walk into that and it\u2019s really like \u2026 living it. They have maintained the truth ever since the beginning.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> You\u2019re Polynesian. How did you end up at a Greek Orthodox church?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> There are different ethnicities, like Russian Orthodox. My wife is Greek. I was a non-denomination Christian before we got married. So we sit around there and meet with our spiritual mother and then we go home, maybe take a nap, work out and then go home and have dinner.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> Who\u2019s making dinner?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> My wife; I cannot cook at all. I\u2019ve tried. I\u2019m terrible. When I cook, it\u2019s something nobody else would enjoy.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> You only cook specialty things for yourself?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> No, it\u2019s not that nobody else will make it for me, it\u2019s that I\u2019m the only one who is going to enjoy it. I\u2019ll look at the other people and say, \u201cDid you like it?\u201d They say, \u201cNoooooooo.\u201d<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> Do you have any other hobbies or things you do away from the field? Maybe bowling?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu: <\/span>No, not really. The single guys go bowl. The guys who are married go home, mostly. I really focus on spending time with my wife.<\/p>\nCole: <\/span>How hard is it to get time at home during the season? I know guys like (Miami Dolphins linebacker) Zach Thomas stay at the facility until very late studying film and (Indianapolis Colts quarterback) Peyton Manning is watching film at home.<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu: <\/span>First of all, I\u2019m a Christian so my prayer life really comes first. Second of all, I\u2019m a husband so my wife comes before anything else. If I have time to do anything else after that, I do it, but I don\u2019t sacrifice any time with her.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> A lot of guys do it the other way around. Football comes first. They say family and faith come first, but they really do the football first. How do you reconcile it?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu:<\/span> It\u2019s really easy for me. I love my faith and I know that\u2019s first. \u2026. I really think I know what\u2019s important in my life and that\u2019s my faith and my wife.<\/p>\nCole:<\/span> So football is a really focused activity. There\u2019s no wasted time, right?<\/span><\/p>\nPolamalu: <\/span>Actually, it\u2019s a lot of fun and it\u2019s something I enjoy. It\u2019s not like when I\u2019m here it\u2019s business time and then there\u2019s family time. Football is, for me, it\u2019s something I do. It\u2019s like for you, you\u2019re a reporter. It\u2019s what you do, not who you are. Football does not define me. How I am with my faith and how I treat my wife is what truly defines you as a man. That is my goal in life to live that way and believe in it. It would be cowardly of me to say that I enjoy my time with my faith and my wife if I really didn\u2019t spend that time with them.<\/p>\nThe rest \u2013 here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Though more than a year old, this story is timeless. Thanks to Margo Elgohary for the FWD. PITTSBURGH \u2013 Strong safety Troy Polamalu has become known around the Pittsburgh Steelers as the last guy out of the locker room on Sundays after home games. All of his teammates are long gone and even most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1691,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Though more than a year old, this story is timeless. Thanks to Margo Elgohary for the FWD.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n