Troy Aumua Polamalu (/ˌpoʊləˈmɑːluː/; born Troy Aumua; April 19, 1981) is a former American football strong safety of Samoan descent who played his entire twelve-year career for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and earned consensus All-American honors. He was chosen by the Steelers in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He was a member of two of the Steelers' Super Bowl championship teams, and was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2010.
Polamalu was born in Garden Grove, California. He is of Samoan descent. At age eight, he vacationed in Tenmile, Oregon, with an aunt and uncle for three weeks and afterwards begged his mother to let him live in Oregon. He graduated from Douglas High School in Winston, Oregon. Despite playing in only four games during his senior season due to injury, he was named to the 1998 Super Prep All-Northwest team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, and the All-Far West League second team. As a two-way player, Polamalu rushed for 671 yards with nine touchdowns and had three interceptions.