TAMPA, Fla. | The young man speaks softly, so softly you would not be able to hear him without the microphone that someone adjusts in front of him.</p><p>The young man likes to plant flowers; he finds peace when he&#8217;s digging in the dirt. The young man likes to play the piano; the music grants him a few moments of tranquility. He reads the Bible often.</p><p>The young man is at the heart of a story he never thinks about.</p><p>Here&#8217;s the story: On April 26, 2003, the Kansas City Chiefs had the 16th pick in the NFL draft. The Chiefs had just finished one of the oddest seasons in the history of professional football. They had led the NFL in scoring &#8212; the whole NFL. They had scored 121 more points than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won the Super Bowl. They had scored more points than the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans <em>combined</em>. That&#8217;s not all. They had lost only two fumbles the whole season. That&#8217;s an NFL record.</p><p>How many victories would you expect from a team that scores more points than any other team and loses just two fumbles? Well, the Chiefs did not win that many. They won eight games and lost eight games. No team has ever done so little with so much.</p><p>How did the Chiefs pull that off? Easy. They played terrible defense all year long. The Chiefs&#8217; offense scored 38 in New England; the defense gave up 41. The offense scored 34 at San Diego; the defense gave up 35. The Chiefs lost 37-34 to Denver at home and 39-32 up in Seattle. There were no mysteries. The Chiefs had to improve that defense.</p><p>So there they were with the 16th pick in the NFL draft. And Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson and his coach Dick Vermeil looked closely at the board &#8212; and they simply did not see a defensive player worth taking in that spot. Not one. &#8220;I would have gone defense,&#8221; Vermeil said afterward. &#8220;Yeah. But I understand the process.&#8221;</p><p>So when the Pittsburgh Steelers called and said they wanted to trade up into the Chiefs&#8217; slot &#8212; the Steelers had the 29th pick overall &#8212; well, the Chiefs were thrilled. They could trade down and get a little bit extra for the effort. They happily made the trade. And with the Steelers&#8217; pick, they took running back Larry Johnson, who has had his great moments and his awful moments but, of course, does not play defense.</p><p>The Steelers, using the Chiefs&#8217; pick, selected the quiet young man who was behind the microphone.</p><p>The quiet young man, of course, is Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, who might be the best defensive player in the NFL.</p><p>You can always look back in the draft and find mistakes, of course. Every team makes dozens and dozens of mistakes every year. When Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli was in New England, he used to remind himself of this by keeping a photograph of tight end Dave Stachelski on his desk. Why? Dave Stachelski was the Patriots&#8217; fifth-round pick in 2000 &#8212; and he never played a single down for New England. In the sixth round that same year, the Patriots took quarterback Tom Brady.</p><p>The point: Even teams that get it <em>right</em> make mistakes.</p><p>Still, it&#8217;s hard to understand why the Chiefs, who were in such desperate need of a big-play defender, missed Polamalu. He wasn&#8217;t exactly a hidden talent. He was a big-play defensive back at Southern California &#8212; an All-American, the team MVP one year and so on. He was, the scouts said, the best safety coming out of college, the biggest hitter, the most ferocious force. And, of course, his intangibles &#8212; what NFL scouts call things like attitude, leadership, intelligence, focus &#8212; were off the charts. Everyone who was ever around Troy Polamalu loved the guy.