By Sam Moyer
samuel.j.moyer@gmail.com


Imagine you’re an NFL receiver playing against Pittsburgh. You make a leaping catch, turn around, and all you see is Troy Polamalu blitzing through the air, his long curly locks trailing like a swarm of locusts blocking out the sun.

Imagine the sheer terror.

After rolling around in their sleep, normal people sometimes wake up to find a small “bird’s nest” in their hair. Polamalu actually incubated a nest of seven blue jays during the 2008-2009 season, four of which survived despite 73 tackles. The nest, some have speculated, also contained yellow warblers.

Thursday against Cleveland Polamalu picked up eight tackles falling just short of his season high of nine. The strong safety is only 38th in the league in tackles and 10th among safeties, but you have to take into account that the Steelers are third in the NFL in fewest passing yards allowed, largely due to the intimidation factor of Polamalu's hair. 

Along with their season nemesis Baltimore Ravens, the AFC North leaders seem likely favorites to go on to Super Bowl XLVI (is that a real number?)

Speaking of the Packers, Green Bay will also be relying heavily on defensive hair to come up with key plays.

Packer linebacker Clay Matthews, skilled axe maker and direct descendant of Fabio, picked up a sack, forced fumble, and returned an interception for a touchdown against the Giants leading his team to a three point victory last Sunday.

If the two teams meet the results could be apocalyptic, like if Chuck Norris’ beard accidentally bumped into Mike Ditka’s mustache in a crowded bar and said "hey buddy, watch it!"

All-in-all the Packers are a better rounded team, and will probably be relying less on Matthews’ hair than Pittsburgh on Polamalu’s, but it should be an interesting battle nonetheless if the two teams meet.

Comment and cast your votes for our next installment of SPORTS HAIR!!!

Sam Moyer