Detroit ? Everything about Troy Polamalu is a contradiction.

He is one of the NFL’s most violent players, a whirlwind of speed, high-flying hits and wildly flowing hair. He forces offenses to alter their game plans. His defensive coach says the league never has seen anything like him.

When he walks out of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room, Polamalu seemingly becomes a different person. He is peaceful and spiritual, quiet beyond a whisper, a man devoted to his wife and faith who never watches on TV the very game he plays.

This Super Bowl will be his first – not only to play in, but, remarkably, to watch.

“It’s tough for me to watch sports,” Polamalu said. “I’m more of a hands-on person.”

And when those hands are around a football, an entire game can change.

That’s why, for all the attention focused on the Seahawks’ first Super Bowl, Jerome Bettis’ last game and Ben Roethlisberger’s possible arrival as an elite quarterback, it is Polamalu who may most influence the Super Bowl.

There has been no better or more disruptive player in the NFL playoffs this season. He has made plays that defensive backs aren’t supposed to make, lined up in positions where safeties are not supposed to be. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning often ran down the play clock to the final second to find him, and it seemed in the AFC championship game that Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer never did.

A freeze frame from that game: On a key third-and-nine play, Plummer flipped a screen pass to running back Tatum Bell. Blockers Tom Nalen, Cooper Carlisle and an open sideline are in front of him.

pittsburgh safety troy polamalu lines up during the AFC championship game against Denver. Polamalu, shown Jan. 22 in Denver, is one of the most ferocious defenders in the NFL, yet teammates don't know what makes him tick. He rarely socializes during the season, spending free time at home with his wife.

Somehow, from across the field, Polamalu emerges, nearly flies over the blockers and drags down Bell inches short of the first down.

“You have to find him on every play,” Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “On every play.”

While Joey Porter is the loud and nasty voice of the Steelers’ defense, Polamalu provides its distinctive personality, its uniqueness. He may line up as a lineman on one play, in deep coverage on another.

“He is a mad man on the field,” cornerback Deshea Townsend said.

Still, some teammates say they don’t know Polamalu all that well or what really makes him tick.

He rarely socializes during the season, preferring to stay at home with his wife of one year, Theodora, the sister of Miami Dolphins tight end Alex Holmes – a former USC teammate of Polamalu’s.

Polamalu said his wife didn’t like football or watch it.

“It’s nice to be able to come home and not have my wife tell me that I missed my read in Cover-6, you know what I mean?” he said.

Once the game or practice ends, it is almost as if his football life ends and another Polamalu appears, even if he says that isn’t true.

“To me, it’s the same thing and I’m the same person,” said Polamalu, known to his teammates as the Quiet Storm. “If you tell me somebody is going to be barbaric on the field when they blow those whistles, then a peaceful, humble gentle guy off the field, there is something non-authentic about either the way he plays or his personal life. For me, it’s the same person throughout.”