In Friday’s “First Call,” Troy Polamalu recalls the instant when he grasped what it was like to be a Steelers player in Pittsburgh.

The Baltimore Ravens are feeling optimistic about their pass rush. Aaron Rodgers’ future in Green Bay is still filled with questions.

And an ex-Pirate gets a start in Yankee Stadium.

Wake up call to the Hall

Troy Polamalu is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend. And in a recent interview on WDVE, the former Steelers All-Pro recalled a “welcome to life as a Steeler” moment early in his career.

Specifically, how seriously fans in the region take the sport.

It occurred after the team lost the 2004 AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots at the end of Polamalu’s second season.

“What I realized was … how important football was to the city of Pittsburgh,” Polamalu said. “You could feel it in the air, the tangible depression. I felt like you could bottle the depression.”

Then, by contrast, Polamalu explained how he felt a completely opposite reaction the next year when the team managed to win Super Bowl XL.

“To me, it was so tangible,” Polamalu continued. “That’s what was so nice about being able to win it. Just the joy. And how much (winning) brings to the city.”

A few years later, Polamalu famously threw himself firsthand into that joy when he body surfed his way through the crowd at the Super Bowl XLIII victory parade when the Steelers brought home the city’s sixth championship.

A ‘wink’ and a smile

This season, the Baltimore Ravens are looking to improve upon a mediocre pass rush from 2020. The defense collected just 39 sacks last year, good for only 14th in the NFL.

Defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale is counting on two roster additions to boost that total. The first of which is recent free agent signee Justin Houston.

“What is it — 97.5 sacks? I think we can fit those in,” Martindale said of Houston’s career total after Wednesday’s training camp practice. “We’re excited about it. … We can’t wait to get him here and get him rolling. I think that it’s going to help us in a whole bunch of different ways. It makes us more flexible.”

He also heaped praise on first-round draft choice Odafe Oweh.

“This kid, he’s going to be a good one,” Martindale said of the Penn State product via RavensWire. “We’re going to find ways to get him on the quarterback, because he’s going to get there, and he’s going to get there really fast. So, I have great hopes for him. I think that he’s going to be a great football player for us, and I don’t just throw around the word great. I think he’s going to be a problem (for other teams).”

Oweh showed natural athleticism as a Nittany Lion, but he didn’t register a sack in his junior season before turning pro. He did have seven sacks over his first two years, though.

What the future holds

According to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, the Packers have verbally agreed to trade quarterback Aaron Rodgers if he still wants out of Green Bay after the 2021 season.

But according to Pro Football Talk, that’s not a done deal because it’s not in writing.

“It’s a handshake deal,” writes Mike Florio. “Both Paul Allen of KFAN and Chris Simms of NBC have said that Rodgers believed the Packers had agreed to trade Rodgers during the most recent offseason, and that the team reneged. … If accurate, why trust them again?”

Rodgers has been tied to the Steelers as a Ben Roethlisberger successor on a few occasions in recent months.

Take two

Tyler Anderson made his second start for the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.

The former Pirates left-hander pitched five innings against the New York Yankees and got a no-decision in a 5-3 loss. He allowed two runs while yielding five hits and two walks. He totaled four strikeouts along the way.

It was Paul Sewald who allowed the big hit, though — a three-run, two-out moonshot of a homer from Joey Gallo.

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 6, 2021

That was Gallo’s first homer since being acquired from the Texas Rangers on July 29.

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