Jerome Bettis compares Troy Polamalu's situation to Hines Ward's exit

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Jerome Bettis celebrated the end of his 13-year Hall of Fame career when the Steelers claimed their fifth Lombardi in Super Bowl XL in the running back's hometown of Detroit. Former Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward wasn't as lucky, as his career ended when the Steelers announced their intention to release him in February 2012 following a disappointing road loss to the Broncos in the wild-card round one month earlier. When he received no offers from other teams, the four-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl MVP announced his retirement the next month after spending his entire career in Pittsburgh.

It appears that safety Troy Polamalu will face the same fate as Ward. On Wednesday, it was reported that the Steelers are hoping the veteran will retire before the team has to release him. Talk about déjà vu.

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In an appearance on ESPN on Wednesday, Bettis compared the similarities between Polamalu's current situation and the end of Ward's time with the Steelers.

"This is nothing new, the Steelers asked Hines Ward the same thing," Bettis said. "They asked (Ward) to retire. He wanted to play. He looked out and didn't see many teams really looking at him. He decided to retire. I think this is a similar situation where they want him to retire because they don't want to cut him. They want him to go out with the grace that he deserves as a football player.

"The bottom line comes down to whether Troy wants to continue to play. That's when this becomes a really difficult situation. We haven't heard from Troy yet, but I would assume that Troy still wants to give it a go."

As Polamalu previously stated, "time will tell."

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