Troy Polamalu’s Hall of Fame induction speech on Saturday was the kind of thing that raises little black and gold goosebumps on the skin of Steelers fans.

It evoked memories of Jack Lambert’s speech when he was inducted back in 1990.

“If I could start my life all over again, I would be a professional football player. And you damned well better believe I’d be a Pittsburgh Steeler,” Lambert famously said in Canton, Ohio.

Polamalu hit a lot of the same notes.

“To be a Steeler is to consider others before you consider yourself. To protect your brother even from himself. To give support even at your own expense. And when wearing the Black and Gold suit of armor make sure nobody desecrates it, disrespects it. Most important, we ourselves don’t dishonor it. The only approval any Steeler should seek is to earn the approval of previous legends who have donned the Black and Gold. And if you have truly earned their respect, they’ll say, ‘You could have played with us.’”

My god, you can just hear the “Renegade” reverberating under every word. People all over Western Pennsylvania are replaying that on YouTube. They are the Kool-Aid man and running through walls in their No. 43 jerseys right now.

During this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLIVE admitted that he was a big fan of Polamalu’s speech as well. But it left him a bit torn when juxtaposing the former All-Pro’s words with the current state of the franchise itself.

“When Troy talked about the Steeler way and the Steeler culture, I considered the way things are now and it sounded an awful lot like a eulogy to me,” Madden said.

Between the antics of Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, the constant social media hype from the likes of Devin Bush, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool, and the lack of playoff wins the past four years, you can get Madden’s point of view.

“I can only recount what (Polamalu) said on my show during his exit interview when he retired,” Madden recalled. “‘I came into the locker room (as a rookie). I looked around and I saw men. Now all I see is little boys.’”

Plenty is going on so far in training camp that Madden isn’t thrilled about either. Specifically, what is now clearly a passive holdout from T.J. Watt.

The star outside linebacker is with the team during practices. But he isn’t participating. And recently Keith Butler admitted the reason Watt is doing that is to protect himself so as not to get injured before getting a big contract extension.

“He’s a petulant, whiny, little fraud in a lot of ways,” Madden said. “He is a guy who has never had a sack in a playoff game. He’s a guy who sits in the fourth quarter when the game is still on the line because he is tired. If you think for one minute he is just going to take what he is given if it is not what he wants, and everything will be hunky-dory, then you haven’t been paying attention to the Watt brothers. The Watt family will retire with a lot of money, a lot of Subway and no rings.”

Also on the podcast, we get into the reported trade request from Steelers receiver James Washington, Kevin Dotson’s place on the offensive line depth chart and any progress from last year Madden may have seen — or failed to see — in the Hall of Fame game.

We also discuss the end of the Olympics, the struggles of the Pirates and conundrums over buying lakefront retirement property.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss Troy Polamalu’s Hall of Fame speech and the state of the Steelers, Pirates and the Olympics

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