POLAMALU DECRIES “PANSY” NATURE OF MODERN NFL

Steelers safety Troy Polamalu is one of those guys who don’t say very much. So, when he talks, folks pay attention. Polamalu addressed on Wednesday the league’s enhanced effort to promote player safety. And Polamalu thinks it’s more about keeping star players on the field. “It has more to do with money and not really with our safety,” Polamalu said. Regardless of the motivation, Polamalu doesn’t like the focus on fining players for big hits. He said that football “just loses so much of its essence when it becomes like a pansy game.” (Not that there’s anything wrong with being a pansy.) “When you see guys like Dick Butkus, the Ronnie Lotts, the Jack Tatums, these guys really went after people,” Polamalu said, overlooking the fact that Tatum’s actions paralyzed someone. “Now, they couldn’t survive in this type of game. They wouldn’t have enough money. They’d be paying fines all the time and they’d be suspended for a year after they do it two games in a row. It’s kind of ridiculous.” Wow. When it comes to the question of the league cracking down on big hits, the Steelers are unofficially leading the resistance. Earlier in the week, receiver Hines Ward and coach Mike Tomlin publicly questioned the basis for the imposition of multiple unnecessary roughness fines on Ward. Even chairman Dan Rooney got in on the act on Wednesday, acknowledging that he is puzzled regarding the stream of fines levied against Ward. Though we’re not much for conspiracy theories (except when they’re real), it’s hard not to draw a connection between this sudden belligerence from the ‘Burgh and the league office’s newfound commitment to force the Rooneys to finally clear up an ownership situation that has been clouded since 2006 by the acquisition of gambling interests that blatantly violate league rules.