“It’s hard to talk years when you live day to day. That’s the thing football has taught me more than anything. Anybody who’s ever tried to make plans with me understands that. If you want to meet me in two weeks for lunch, I’m not making those plans. I live day to day. I’m not going to plan for our playoff game [next weekend] because I don’t know what’s going to happen to me this week. I respect time. I respect life enough not to make those plans … There definitely are aspects of my game that I can’t rely on anymore. I’m not as perky or as bouncy as I was in my early years. [But] the reality of getting old in this game is beautiful to me. The evolution of it. The spiritual struggle behind it. All of that is wonderful and beautiful.”
—Troy Polamalu, who played the final game of his 12th NFL regular season with the Steelers last night, to Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. At 33, Polamalu has missed 13 games due to injury in the last three years, and this could be his last NFL season.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/12/29/what-happened-with-harbaugh-and-the-niners/7/
FOOTNOTE 4 