Polamalu wants his sons to play football

Jamison Hensley | ESPN.com


Troy Polamalu holds his two sons, Paisios, right, and Ephraim during a benefit for FOCUS North America sponsored by the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church Community Center in Mt. Lebanon.

Few in the NFL are more familiar with head injuries these days than Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.

Last season, Polamalu left two games because of head trauma. This is only a small portion of his history with concussions.

Polamalu reportedly had at least three concussions while at USC and two while playing high school football. But Polamalu wouldn't dissuade his sons from playing football. In fact, he would "absolutely" want them to play the game.

Polamalu has two sons, Paisios (3 years old) and Ephraim (who will turn 2 in September).

"This game has provided me with a lot of beautiful life lessons, and I definitely would like my son to learn that," Polamalu told The Fan in Pittsburgh, via SportsRadioInterviews.com.

"Because you’re not faced with the same type of situations in other sports as you are in football.” Polamalu said he doesn't know whether concussions will shorten his career. He does acknowledge that it has changed his view on football.

"Football has taught me and I’ve had this, I guess maybe kind of growing motto in my life, is to live day-to-day and never to take anything for granted," he said. "I’ve been injured, I’ve missed large parts of football seasons and sometimes you get caught up in, ‘Oh man, OTAs or all this practice,’ but when it’s taken away from you, you realize how much you miss it. …

Whether this concussion issue is really as big as it may seem to be, I don’t think it would really change my view on anything.”