New Steelers Rookie Troy Fautanu Demonstrated Impressive Character When USC Used His Hero To Recruit Him

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, marking the first time in the franchise's 88-year draft history that they chose an offensive lineman in back-to-back seasons. Fautanu grew up as a huge Steelers fan and plays with a nasty edge that Mike Tomlin appreciates and knows how to cultivate into an advantage on a professional football field. Fautanu is also regarded as a high-character player who helped the Washington Huskies win the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in 2023.

On Thursday night, Fautanu held a conference call with members of the media a few hours after he was selected as Omar Khan's second first-round draft pick. The audio was published in Jeff Hathhorn's article on 93.7 The Fan. After revealing he was a big Steelers fan growing up and that his hero was Troy Polamalu, he was asked if he ever had gotten to meet the Steelers Hall of Fame safety. Fautanu revealed that he not only met Polamalu, but that he was part of a recruiting trick by then USC Trojans head coach, Clay Helton. 

"Somebody knocks on the door, and [Helton] said, ‘Go open the door,’” Fautanu said. “I open it, and it’s Troy Polamalu. My idol growing up, my GOAT. It was a surreal moment. I didn’t know what to say. It is just so crazy because it’s so hard to visualize because he’s very soft-spoken, everything he did on the field and everything he contributed to football. It was very surprising. Something I'll never forget.”

It was a clever bit of recruiting by USC. Many other players, being recruited by their boyhood hero, who is also an alumnus of the school, would have tipped the scales in the Trojans' favor. Fautanu was thrilled, but was not swayed by meeting arguably the best Steelers defensive player in the 21st century. 

Fautanu was attending Liberty High School in Henderson, NV when he visited USC and met Polamalu. His answer to why the tactic didn't work revealed impressive critical thinking and rock-solid common sense befitting a former Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll member. 

“Honestly, because I knew Troy Polamalu was not going to be there every day,” Fautanu quipped. “You got to weed through a lot of that stuff in the recruiting process.”

The reply was met with an outburst of laughter from those on the call. Not only did he spurn the Trojans, but Fautanu also elected to enroll at Washington, a long-standing rival of the program in the Pac-12. It was also a very impressive character display from a high school student whom the USC ploy could have easily influenced. 

Steelers' 2024 Offseason Additions Signal That The Steeler Way Is Still Important In Pittsburgh

Fautanu was a solid leader in college and plays with a nasty streak, two traditional traits of a prototypical successful Steelers player. Khan and Andy Weidl are prioritizing rebuilding the offensive line, but they have demonstrated a firm handle over the last two seasons on identifying what kind of player fits in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh has been criticized for its perceived move away from players who fit the Steelers' mold. Part of that might be true, but the reality is that becoming irrelevant as a contender since 2016 probably has a lot more to do with that criticism. It happened gradually and then suddenly, like most things that break down. Kevin Colbert crippled the roster with years of bad draft choices, Tomlin made some mistakes, Ben Roethlisberger got hurt, and then we all got, "I Survived Matt Canada" t-shirts. It's been a tough seven years. 

Several notable streaks ended when Khan picked Fautanu. The Steelers had not picked a player from the Pac-12 since JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2017. They also picked a player for the first time in recent memory that the general manager and head coach did not attend their Pro Day. Hopefully, it will lead to them ending the most important streak of all, a seven-year streak and counting without a playoff win.