USC Football: Troy Polamalu makes the College Football Hall of Fame

Troy Polamalu was always known as a USC great, now he will honored as one of the greatest to play college football. The former USC safety was voted into the 2019 College Football Hall of Fame class on Monday morning. Polamalu will be the 44th Trojan to be in the Hall of Fame.

Polamalu was with the Trojans from 1999-2002 where he was one of the key players to jump start the Pete Carroll era at USC. In that time frame Polamalu he was a two time All-American, a Jim Thorpe award finalist in 2002, and led USC in tackles and interceptions in 2001. Polamalu would go on to the NFL where he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 16th overall pick and have a successful NFL career where he would go on to win two Super Bowls, make the All-Pro team six times, and become an eight time Pro-Bowler. At the end of his USC career Polamalu had 278 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, six interceptions, four blocked punts, and three touchdowns.

Polamalu will join a 2019 class that includes Notre Dame wide receiver and punt returner Raghib “Rocket” Ismal, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, Ole Miss Linebacker Patrick Willis, Former Arizona State and Miami head coach Dennis Erickson, Arizona State quarterback Jake Plummer, and Texas quarterback Vince Young, who denied the Trojans from a third straight national championship in 2006. Back in 2017, former USC quarterback and Heisman trophy winner Matt Leinart was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Polamalu has already received a couple of accolades since his retirement from football. He was named as a member of the Pac-12 All-Century team in 2015 and named to the USC Athletics hall of fame in 2018. He is also head of player relations in the new Alliance of American Football league. He now adds the College Football hall of fame to that list. Next up? Canton, Ohio!