Bussin' With The Boys - Best of the Bus: Troy Polamalu Talks the Art Of Defense, Chasing Ed Reed + Life After Football

Episode Date: October 11, 2025

Recorded: February 8th, 2024 | The boys were joined by the one and only Troy Polamalu. This interview was a football player’s dream — just a couple of older guys talking inside ball, breaking down X’s and O’s, and having some good old-fashioned dude time. Troy opened up about how relentlessly he studied other players, his love for watching film, and how he decided to make those legendary plays jumping over the line.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey guys, it's us The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen.

We don't care where you hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna. Arriva and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try.

So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with I, Maria Maria. on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Marquis keep coming to. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Bus with the Boys. We have an absolute legend with us. Troy, Palomalu. Man, it is an honor to have you. Let's give a minute of a round of applause.

Outstanding. Outstanding, obviously here on behalf of Frito Lays, right? Frito Lays, Lysfito. Cool Ranch. Cool Ranch, Doritos, wherever the phone wants to take you. It is Frito Lays. Right before the pod, I was kind of asking him, I was like, what have you been up to? Like, you've always done a very good job of staying under the radar, and he was getting into his two boys, 15 and 13.

They're starting to get into thinking of it with sports. And what I wanted to ask is what's it like being like, you know, being like one of those sport fathers, being those sport dads, like navigating that. You're talking about teaching them hard work and everything else. Well, to tell you the truth, like once sports are over with and, you know, like you go. go into the stands, you become no different than any other dad. That's what I realized. Like, like, first of all, for my children, they don't give, they don't care what I say, whether it's about football or not. Um, secondly is I don't like, you know, the crazy sports that thing is, is I've embodied that completely. I've tried my best not to be that person. So it's, it's pretty

funny. Um, um, I've been all that. I've been the sport that. I've been the coach. I've been all that. And that's, that's kind of been my experience since this football, to be honest with you. We had Ed McCaffrey on here. He's talking about obviously his son Christian. He's playing in the Super Bowl and all that. And Christian was on last year talking about all the crazy things his dad would do during the recruiting process, putting weights in his socks. So he weighed more.

Ivy during in the middle of school, pick him up for a night game, get an IV. He went to a private school and he had to wear jeans. And his dad would be like, jeans a little heavy for game day, huh? Like, do you catch yourself? Like, obviously having the success you did in the NFL. That's funny. And you see your young boys like, like, playing. Yeah, no soda.

No carbonation. You don't want that in the belly. Yeah, yeah. Like, you see your, your young boys, like, starting their process. Yeah. Is, do you ever catch yourself being like, you know, hey, sleep, routine, diet, all that? Because, like, I mean, all men didn't play in the league. But, you know, we just kind of ate whatever, right?

It was high school. You kind of just figured it as you win. But you having that knowledge, like, have you tried to put that on your kids at all? Yeah, but then you, but then you evolve towards doing what's the most optimal for your body and for your health. Yeah, it's kind of tough, to be honest with you. You know, I'm geared very much type A, although I may not act that way. You know, so I am very regimented in how I view things and how I do things. So funny enough is, yeah, absolutely.

I've watched that Ed McCaffrey, like his inside the NFL and everything that he'd done. That's how I'm obsessed I am. I study other fathers to make sure like, how good sports dad. So aside from that, you know, a very infamous father and who I think is unfortunately characterized that way. Marv Marev Marenovich was my trainer. So he was kind of like seen as the ultimate sports dad and, you know, bestowing all of his knowledge on his son.

So, yeah, there is a certain balance there. Absolutely. But without a doubt, you know, as you know and you learn in the NFL is it's always the little things. You know, everybody does the big things. It's always the little things and the accumulation, those little things that kind of make the big difference in those inches that or millimeters that you try to gain throughout the sport. And for my son, it's a little bit of that. You know, I'm not telling them, you know, wear jeans or not wear jeans or anything that sort of stuff. Without a doubt, I tell them how

important sleep is, how important height. I'm saying this for all the other kids out there is, you know, the most important thing for kids and for any athlete is sleep hydration and then the diet and then the therapy and then the training. So the things that are under your control or the sleep, the diet, you know, and the hydration. So that's one thing that I, that I am very, you know, strict on is like, no, man, you got to hydrate. If you want to play two sports, you want to play five sports, whatever the case is, like these things are really important. So I am pretty strict about some of those things. Are they both, are they both very different? Is one more type A is one more like you that you feel like, okay, I can coach him this way and coach the other

one this way? Oh, yeah, absolutely. They're their exact opposite. One's very geared towards trying to please everybody and one of them is very much about himself. Yeah. Or do they understand? I'm sure they do. But finding like that interest of like, oh, my dad played at this high level. He's his Hall of Fame guy. Like the things he says, I'm more of a sponge or is it very much that, you know,

since you're the dad, one or you're out the other at times and then their coach says something that I've been trying to tell you this the whole time. To be honest, I joke that my kids are like that, but they aren't. They're very, I'm very blessed. They listen really well. They do, you look up old highlights and things like that, but, you know, I'm very fortunate. Again, we have a very great relationship with my two boys.

Do you love looking back at USC and watching that hit you put on, oh boy, what was it, on special teams? Yeah, I don't even know what you're talking about, man. Funny enough, funny enough, on that hit, it was Aaron Lockett. Yeah, it was a terrible, it was an ill-timed hit. but what I always tell people is that was the third one. The two before that were perfectly timed. So if you were to watch the whole game, you would have saw the two before that.

But my wife was like, I had met her at that time right before. And she was like, man, that guy's a cheat player. I hope I'd never meet that guy. I'd say something terrible to him. I'm like, yeah, I wouldn't want to meet him either. There is a piece of crap that guy. She later found out it was obviously me. But with the kids, like,

sticking on that production one more like Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about Defying the Odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by,

like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the bar. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it. out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my GenX squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS.

All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, you know?

Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to. try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was wherever a point in your life as your kids get older. They discover, they go to school, their kids are talking about, your kids' friends are talking about their dad.

and like tempering those expectations as they kind of go into sports like hey you don't have to like the goal is not to like achieve what I did it's like to be the best version of yourself did you ever have like were they ever struggling with that or anything yeah I think naturally they're my son plays football they both they both be playing tackle football so I think naturally they're going to deal with that and I mean you guys have been in this all we've been all the same circles you know these things aren't to an advantage to anybody you know in our circle but I I I tell them to embrace them to embrace you know that, you know, that's only going to harden them, make them even better, you know, in a lot of ways. And also is, you know, I've also been on the other side of where I've always been the jealous athlete. I was trying to knock down the who's ever on top. And, you know, there was a lot of bad characteristics that I had growing up because of that. So, you know, I try to coach my son, like, how to deal with people that have similar character of how I was, you know, growing up, very jealous, very competitive, very alpha type. So what they do have is they have, you know, somebody who's got a lot of life experience, you know, that's able to impart a lot of knowledge.

And to their credit, they're great listeners. Who are some of those safeties that you were jealous of? All of them, to be honest with you. Are there a couple or is there one that you're just like? So every year, every year I watch five safeties. And I would literally watch every single one of their plays. And I would make a highlight tape and a low light tape of all of them. So that's what I did throughout my whole career.

Ed was somebody I watched every, I watched every single one of his plays. So obviously Ed is somebody who I admired. But there's a bunch of guys like Donovan Darius, Bob Sanders, a lot of guys that don't get a lot of credit that, you know, were Hall of Fame type caliber players that didn't have length. And to be very frank, man, I was in the most beautiful situation in Pittsburgh. I had a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator, Hall of Fame head coach. Man, you could put any of these players in my.

position, they would have been just as successful as I am. I studied, I was obsessed with the game, I broke down safeties in this way, and even cornerbacks in this way. So I don't say these things humbly. I see, I study these guys. I studied everything about them. You know, I studied father, I studied McCaffrey, I studied Marinians. I'm not telling you. So these sort of things aren't like, that's obviously who I am and maybe a part of my success as a football player. But It's just who I am. It's the things of how I view, you know, trying to be a father or trying to help train athletes or whatever the case is. Were you very, was all this, this student of the preparation?

Did you have all this in USC and it helped carry you into the league? Or did it obviously develops over time, but did you kind of have that sense of urgency and preparation at college? No, I absolutely developed it over time. And what I did is I studied the grades. Like, if anybody at this period of time, knows, like saw how Ed Reed, how much he talked about how important film was, and he didn't listen to that. You know what I mean? Like this, he was talking in college about this stuff. And I'm listening to him in college. And so, so like all of these sort of things became habits for me. You know, you hear here, here and there about what Tom Brady is doing and all these guys about health, wellness, longevity and, you know, how to keep a sharper edge.

And, you know, you hear about how other athletes rob, you know, like Gilbert Arena is talking about how he watched. Kobe Bryant play and how he learned from these guys. And honestly, it's very simple in that way. You know, you've got to have a student mindset in this sport. You're not going to be original in anything. There's a lot of great players that have done a lot of great things. And you guys have walked in these shoes. It's no secret, man.

It's a sacrifice. It's grit. It's hard work. It's no special talent that anybody else has. So, you know, as long, that to me is it was my mindset. So that's why I learned from guys like Ed, guys like Donovan Darius, a lot of safeties that I studied that aren't quite, you know, very famous out there. When you were talking about like Hall of Fame, D. Coordinators, Dick Leboe, he was with the Tennessee Titans for a year. And he, this is a guy who like walks into a room and you're like, holy shit, dude, that's Dick Lebo.

And he's a legend. And there's so many things that we went when played the Steelers on Thursday night football, we got destroyed. It was like, it was A.B. catching the ball in the back of his head. It was just an absolute, they mollywapped us. But, like, he brought all these other players in, these Hall of Fame dudes. Like, is they Kessel? Yep. He bought him and a bunch of other guys, and they had conversations with us.

But one of the things they always would tell amazing stories about Dick and, like, there was one time for Christmas, right around Christmas time. We'd have a team meeting. I don't know if he did this with you guys, but he sat and he read the night before Christmas in front of the whole team. No, he didn't read it. He didn't read it. He recited it. He recited the entire book or story, like verbatim. And so, like, are there any, like, you?

some Dick Loboisms that maybe the world doesn't know about as much. Well, to extend on that story, though, this is something he did every year. So it was like a tradition on the last game before Christmas. And to me, I always look forward to that every year because, I mean, you experience it. You understand like the level of like you kind of look around and like, dang, man, like, this guy's reciting the whole poem. He writes an intro and, you know, an intro to it that he wrote. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news.

What's the news, Nick? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a parameda apostle chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that?

I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How high can it be, getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try.

So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm a good. I just say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura Podcast Network available on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luke.

and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He runs up to court. in his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Himself that is perfectly in line with the entire poem. And then to me, what I would love at those moments that would look around at all the younger guys. And then that's one day would like, would really start to say, man, I'm part of something special and very different. Like they don't do this normally at different, you know, in the NFL. So to me, that was always really special thing that he would always do. In fact, even to this day, on the night before Christmas, I'll pull up the video on YouTube and my family will watch it as well. But Kosa-Bow is, he's, I mean, you experienced him for a year, but in my career, he was everything to me.

I mean, he came in my second year and we left the Steelers together. man every day was like a like a like a like a like a like a like a there was like a wise sage moment with him was like whoa that was profound like thank you for that you know it was just like every day was that and and you don't get that from coaches that you like you know what I mean like coaches you get different type of wisdom from he got gave like sage advice so and it came like at like he he He was never a yeller.

He was another custer. You know, but so it just came like in a very real sense. And especially the fact that he's a Hall of Fame player, you know, the funny things that he would always do is like he'd come to DB line. He just walked down. He'd go 12, 15, 27, 25. He's like, ah, all of you guys don't amount to amount of interceptions that I have. We just go like that and be like, yep, that's 55. All of you guys combined 63 over here.

That's his awesome. So, yeah, he was, he was awesome. Was his, was the beauty of his coaching, the consistency, like having him from a year two to when you finished, did he ever kind of waver in his approach? Oh, absolutely, absolutely not. But also, like, you know, I think that's one thing, is his consistency, but like, I don't know.

Like, it wasn't like he changed his message that got stale. It never did that, but he always kept us excited and happy. I don't know why. It was just that level of respect that we had for him. Such a unique way to go about things. I feel like the coaching world, at least what we grew up in, was like more yelling,

more intensity. And there was like such a calmness about him. Everywhere he walked, he'd come see you. He remember everybody's name. Tap you on the shoulders you left. And he had a gentle tap on the shoulder. You're like, man, we had a moment.

I feel like the first time you experienced somebody like that too. You're just thinking like, okay, there's another way that goes about it. I'm kind of receptive to this style. Like he's, he like told me one day. He's like, he's like he he just for the heck of it he went like 400 days eating a cheeseburger every day

so he tried to do something like that with like you know what I mean like yeah like you know you're in change of a cheese burger right I was like but yeah I'm so fascinated with the the way you were talking about your preparation and being kind of obsessed with like watching everybody else and kind of adding those parts of the game I know we talk about doing things like that and just that that that level of of detail could you you you have your style of play of like being up on the line of scrimmage rolling to the middle of the field jumping over the line of scrimmage like doing all these like unique things and uh was there a time because i feel like when you're a player and you want to go make a play right coach you're

in the film room like yeah you make the decision you better make a play or it wouldn't work out like was there a time where you're studying these other guys and you're thinking okay ed reed just did this or this disguise just happened like i'm going to start adding this wrinkle to my book. And then when that moment did happen, you're like, okay, the leash of Palomalo gets longer because, like, hey, he's going out here and making these plays. So, oh, yeah, there's, there's absolutely a lot of things for Ed in particular that he would do that I'm like, oh, man, I need to incorporate that. And funny thing is, that's what I would use scout team for, to be honest with you. I was like, oh, I want to do scouts. I want to do scout team because I'm like, oh, well, you know,

I want to try some of the things I've seen how some of these other safeties do. You know, one thing that that I try to tell people about football is it's a it's it's a hard sport to get really good at in a sense because we spend our off season working out so like the mentality is every off season the only way that we can get better is to get bigger stronger or faster yeah you know it's not get better at our skill development so for me I realize that man in order for us for a safety to become better I need to get more reps at practice so I needed like see more I need to just can continue to see it. So that's where I really started to change my practice habits to get more reps on the field so that I could see more. I actually learned that from a book of the

10,000 hours book, I forget. Outliers? Yeah, outliers. And just talking about like that maximize that reps. So I was like, man, I need to maximize reps on the field. So whenever I would go and do scout team, that's where I was maximized the reps. But then I would also incorporate the things that I saw on film, like, oh, man, Ed, this guy's cover one this way to make it look like cover six. So he baited that front side post that they wouldn't throw in cover three, but they would throw in cover six. You know, he would do these genius type things. Like, oh, man, they made me, oh, they call cover one, hey, let's make it look like six.

And, you know, these sort of things that you could practice. And Ryan would be out there or Chris Hope, you know, the other safety would be out there. So we'd be, you know, practicing these guys together. The other thing was at Pittsburgh. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news.

We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, a pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the, the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad,

Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna. Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast.

How hard can it be with Dianamariva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married. when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be getting naked at 50 with a new guy? That one's kind of hard, no. Well, that's lighting.

They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to how hard can it be. with Deanna Maria Riva as part of My Cultura Podcast Network available on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs.

I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, You go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The unique thing that I had as a role was my rookie year, they may play safety, both safeties,

which were two different positions at the time, and then both nickel and the dime. And cornerbacks. So I ended up being like the big safety on corners. So I literally played almost every position on defense. And then sometimes on three-man rushes, I'd be the fourth rusher. So I could run an text. I can run an X game with the D-N. So you could literally say I played every position.

What was really cool about that, what terrible about that was I had to learn them all, which was terrible because my whole rookie year I gave up, I promised I gave up a touchdown a game. And it was, I'm serious. What's funny about that is my second year, if any rookie who would have come in, done that, I would have been like, get them out of the game. Like my standard had been crazy different. But anyway, when you look at an offense and then you see, hey, man, they attack you in this way.

And I'm a safety. I'm like, I play every position. I know what everybody's doing. If I know the ball's going there, coach, I'm just going to switch with him. I'm going to say, all right, you know, linebacker, you play safety. I'm going to play linebacker because I know if you, you play it right, but I know the play. I'm going to play I'm going to blow it up.

So for me, that's, that's kind of where I started really developed. I started seeing, man, I'm knowing everybody's role. And if I know that the ball's going to go there, I'm just going to switch positions with him. You would do that in real time in the game? In real time in the game. This one, there wouldn't be a practicing.

You'd be out, okay, I have a really good inkling that this is going to happen. I started getting smart enough to know that when I would do this and practice, the coaches would say, you can't do that. I'm like, all right, I'll just wait for the game to do that. So then during the games, I'm like, oh. but you know I'm not talking about I'm also giving up blitzes I'm also saying hey James you'd be better in this

this blitz than I am because I know you're going to get the running back I won't I'll get the running back too but you know you're James so like the same thing like the same thing you know like I know I'm going to get the tight end let's switch positions because I'll rush a D gap you rush you rush contained because I'll get the tackle you get the tight end

so like you know these little nuances that you can make everybody better everybody doesn't think like oh well why would you switch a bliss like are you kidding me, James versus the tight-in and me versus the tackle. Of course I'm going to lose. He's going to win 100% of the time. So that's what started to make our defense really roll together. And what started to hurt our defense late in my career is you get rookies out there.

I'm like, hey, man, you got curl the fly. He's like, what's curled the flat? Yeah. Because everybody's working together. What? He gave up a touchdown, Troy, you can't be doing that. I'm like, oh, man. Do you remember the first play where that worked out where you just kind of went out of the box

and took a shot and it happened to work well to where it's like, Okay. You know, it was more or less that happens in like coverage. You know, the coaches would be yelling at me, hey, it's cover two. It's cover two. It's cover two. You should be in the half. And I'm showing cover three.

But I'm telling the corner, hey, you got the half. I'm going to take the flat. So I'm showing cover three the whole time. And coach is yelling at the side, hey, hey, hey, you got to be back. You got to be back. And I'm like trying to ignore him. And then all of a sudden it's like, you know, I'll get to the sign. I'm like, coach, I just inverted with a side.

with the corner. I let him play the half. I played the, you know, I just want to give the quarterback a different look. They've been calling this and cover three every time. So those little things is what Coach Leboe started to allow us. Like, yeah, man, here's the call. Make it right. You know what I mean? Like just giving us that level of flexibility in a lot of ways we're talking about how Coach Tolman does too. How long did it take for Coach Leboe to be like, all right. Hey, I understand. There's going to be a point where you're supposed to be in cover two, but you're showing cover three. You go to go to a silent. line and it's like you can't do that.

How many times did it work? How many times it have to work before they were like, maybe he's on to something. Like let Troy do his thing. I'm a little bit of a politician too. You know, like I would tell him, you told me this though. If you tell me it's 100% run, then I'm going to play 100% run. Like don't tell me it's going to be something that it's not. And that's what I try to tell players like, just don't study film to study film.

You know, if Ed taught us anything, man, it's like you make plays studying film. Believe what you see is what he would always say. I'm like, all right, I'll believe what I see. So all of these, like, anyway, yeah. It's like for all the kids out there listening, make sure you understand your install first, know what to do, know how to do it. But no, that is, it's just cool, like hearing those stories. Like, I remember I got to play with Ryan Clark in his last year when he was in Washington,

and I was starting to come into the hell and get some play and everything else. And Ryan at practice, like, he was somebody that was such a student of the game. and you'd be out of practice and you know how it is. It's like you want to be a situational master. And like whatever down in distance it was, you'd hear Ryan back there chirping. How pivotal was it? I'm sure that's what made your defense great. Everybody having that level of standard of kind of knowing every situation,

know how to talk about it as the huddle breaks, as the formation is coming out, emotion happening. But how beneficial was it to have like a back end like that and somebody next to you like Ryan Clark? It's everything. It's absolutely every. And it may not be like that in every organization, but it's absolutely everything to me and everything to our defense. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news,

huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember I think it was on a call about what we should call it And we were thinking I'm originally calling it

One of the early names of our band Before Jonas Brothers This is how you guys remember it going down Yes I have a very different memory of this We were talking about a thing A bit for the podcast People could call in and say hey Jonas And then I wrote down on my little notepad

Hey Jonas And offered it up as a potential title For the podcast But thanks for remembering that You guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball like, After you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on the... my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS.

All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that Ness was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting.

They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, How Hard Can It Be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The level of trust and exposure that we would consistently put each other in is, you know, it takes a lot of, it takes a lot of, like, cohesiveness to do that. I meant when we do some of this manipulation on the back end, you have to understand you're completely exposing somebody else. Oftentimes, that was Ike. You know, like, hey, Ike, we're doing this over here. Sorry, your man to man covers zero with their Chad Ocho Sinkle or Brandon Marshall, you know, so we were always, like, we, that was the only reason why we were allowed to do what we do

is because, you know, Ryan's communicating. I cornerback Brian McFadden. They're cover zero oftentimes where, you know, we want to do some cowboy type stuff. But they hold their own there. The reason why we were, you know, as successful as we were. Man. Mike Tomlin, just, I had the opportunity he coached me at the Pro Bowl in 2016. And just being around him and his presence was very like Dick LeBoe-esque.

Yeah. Just more of a calming, more like positive and confidence. Can you just like elaborate on him and his legacy? see as a Steelers head coach. Man, I really enjoyed his podcast with Ryan. Ryan Clark did a podcast with him. And I was just like, man, I'm so happy people get to see Coach Tomlin, like, like, who he really is because he's not, he, that's who he is.

That's who he is as a coach. You know what I mean? Like, I guess, I guess maybe like press conference, like the, he's like the Bill Belichick in the press conference, you know, like completely opposite. Right. But man, it was really cool to see that level. of who he is because when i mean he was 34 when i when he came to coach the Steelers i mean it's it's amazing that he was that young and aside from that that he had a family and had young children so like

these kids that grew up in the locker room now now that you like kind of see him so i don't know it's he's an amazing uh father uh coach i mean later in my career he would we would have db sessions i I learned so much for him about protection, routes based on protections and all these different things. So he's incredible. Actually, he's so fortunate to have him, Coach Cowher, Dick LaBeau. That's why I say humbly, but I say in all sincerity, man, you put anybody in my position, man. These guys are, you can't do nothing but be a Hall of Fame. I'm to be very frank with you.

How was it that? I know, and we're getting the wrap-up signal, but I have to ask, like, how sick is it, knowing that you pulled off all those line of scrimmage plays. I mean, you're getting to watch back, like diving over the line of scrimmage, timing up snaps. Like, that's pretty badass. Because if it didn't work, you're not ridiculous. It's called Detroit Powell. You know, it's funny is it didn't work sometimes.

But, you know, it goes back to the outliers thing. What I realize is that safety needs to see everything. And that means, like, not only the formation, not only the personnel, but like how they break the huddle. And you know this, you know the difference between zero, silent count or on two, and the urgency that offensive linemen comes to, you know what I'm saying? Like when it's on zero, man, they're going to get up there and then they get ready. Or if you know these sort of game situations.

So the funny thing about it is that's where I started to develop this because I was like, man, everybody breaks the line very differently. When offensive line, they come, it's on two. They break with different sense of urgency than when it's quick snap or something. silent count. And when you start to see that, you also see it when they run back to the huddle. So I would always tell people watch the full length of the play, as in like, Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes.

I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential. title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen.

We don't care where you hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a parameda Pazzo chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to

Hollywood. Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy?

That one's kind of hard, well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it unfiltered and unbothered and ask, How Hard Can It Be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura podcast network available on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. and finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's first, friends stop by like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How long it takes to make the call. How long it takes her them to run to the line and all these things mean something. So the funny thing is when it started to happen, I say started to happen, is I was just reacting. I had never thought about it. I was just like, oh, jumping and

then doing it. I'm like, oh, man, oh, wow, that worked. It wasn't until I was like, okay, it's this game situation. Oh, you got to jump it. And then that's when I would actually jump offside. So I started to really understand how I was as an athlete that I'm like, okay, you have to overly prepare so that you can just be instinctual and be free rather than be a student out there that's always like, you know what I mean? I really just had to go out there and be free. So when I did jump, you know, blitz and do those sort of things, man, it was, I swear to you, pure instinct. It was just like afterwards I make the plane like, oh man, it was like a crazy ride.

But it wasn't when I was thinking, that's when I would jump offside and do it wrongly. So it was funny. Well, I know we got to leave you out of here. One last, this is it. This is it right now. As you became more famous and more established as a player and all that, like the hair was always a thing that people were like, that's how we know it's Troy Palo.

Molo. Did it ever get to the point for you? You were like, I literally can't change this look up ever because this is me now? Like, I'm a mustache guy. I can never change my mustache. Are you saying you can never say, to me, this is my identity now. I love it so much.

But there's got to be a point where like, you know, maybe you wake up and you had a little bed hanging out. Man, it'd be so much easier if I just kind of bicked it and let it run a little bit. A better way to put it is it was always part of my identity before. Yeah. So it wasn't like it's something that had to hold on to. So it was more or less like it was always my identity before I even had it. And it was like it was a specific identity.

You know, like my mother-in-law who is a classicist, a Greek classicist, would I always say all the greatest warriors through all time had long hair. You know, you talked about samurai, Native Americans, the ancient Hebrews. to, you know, all of them. Polynesians, they all had long hair. So I was like, oh, okay, I like that. They probably had mustaches, too, though. Probably. Long hair and mustache.

Troy, thanks so much, man. We appreciate you, man. This is awesome. This is awesome, man. It's been great having you. Make sure to subscribe, comment. Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah, photo. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know. Tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey.

And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer?

Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got them. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.