Troy Polamalu Explains How He ‘Ruined Pat McAfee’s Life’

On the “All Things Covered” podcast with Bryant McFadden and Patrick Peterson, former Pittsburgh Steelers strong safety and Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu explained the inner details of how he robbed Pat McAfee of a touchdown at Heinz Field in 2014. The former Indianapolis Colts punter originally told the story in 2017, and it’s become a running joke ever since, as McAfee gets outraged every time he thinks about the missed opportunity of scoring a touchdown in his hometown.

The Colts, who were down 35-17 right before halftime, designed a fake field goal that McAfee intended to run into the end zone. But, Polamalu stayed in the C-Gap, which ruined everything. McAfee ended up just kicking the field goal.

Polamalu joked that he saw McAfee too excited on the sidelines, so that’s why he stayed in the C-Gap, something that he rarely ever did.

“The funny thing about is we actually had a bad tendency. If I was blocking to the field, 100% field goal blocked tendency was that we don’t go out there on the hash. We’re always going to run as the field and then of being on a hash that was on a, you know, pretty much guaranteed a make field goal,” Polamalu explained.

“Yeah and you know, our special teams coach at the time was like, ‘Hey man, we just need to change up our tendency just once.’ And I just remember us having that conversation before we went out there was like, ‘All right, maybe this is the time to change it.’ Wow. That actually, you know, I wish I would have place a little bets on lottery numbers with that guess.”

"I saw him too excited on the sidelines"

WAIT…Did Troy Polamalu finally give the definitive answer on how he snuffed out a @PatMcAfeeShow fake and ruined his Pittsburgh homecoming (and life)!?

The internet has been curious for too long that @BMac_SportsTalk & @P2 had to get… pic.twitter.com/y323s4AheM

— All Things Covered (@ATCoveredPod) June 12, 2023

McAfee reacted to Polamalu’s explanation on his show on Monday.

“Troy Polamalu said what happened. You know what I’m talking about. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re going to find out. Troy Polamalu tried to ruin my life,” McAfee said. “And he did, he had me in the first half. There was a long time that I was pretty miserable about that. I’ve recovered since but it is a moment that should be in my rolodex of life. I’ve been living the dumbest life of all time. Documented. You’ve seen it, I’ve seen it. Why is it happening? Who the f*** knows. I’m just trying to enjoy it. … Suppose to have a touchdown at Heinz Field.”

McAfee then started to reflect on his long list of accomplishments to downplay not scoring a touchdown at Heinz Field, but the memory ends up being too painful.

“Imagine if I had a f****** touchdown in there? In Pittsburgh, are you kidding me? McAfee pondered. “Me walking around Pittsburgh later in life. Completion on Thanksgiving against the Steelers. How are you doing? Biggest Turkey Bowl of all time. Boom. We (lost) by 21 points. And then a touchdown (in Pittsburgh)? Oh my God, the conversations would have been amazing, because I have some die-hard Steelers friends. Die-hard.”

Polamalu has a Gold Jacket for a reason, so McAfee knows he’s one of many to be a victim of his greatness.

“I got Troy Polamalu’d, which I guess a bunch of people have got Troy Polamalu’d,” McAfee said. “The reason why he’s Troy Polamalu is because Troy Polamalu ‘Polamamalu’d’ people. And that means, ‘Oh you think I am going to be here? Boom, I’m not. Art of War. Sun Tzu. Rest in peace. Instead, I have to check out a f****** 100 percenter fake field goal.”

Imagine if I had a touchdown at Heinz Field#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/NCVa8j0KXd

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 12, 2023

RELATED: Troy Polamalu Lists Top Plays in His Career