Bernard Pollard

Infobox NFLactive


currentteam=Kansas City Chiefs
currentnumber=49
currentpositionplain=Safety
birthdate=birth date and age|1984|12|23
birthplace=Fort Wayne, Indiana
heightft=6
heightin=1
weight=224
debutyear=2006
debutteam=Kansas City Chiefs
college=Purdue
draftyear=2006
draftround=2
draftpick=54
pastteams=
* Kansas City Chiefs (2006-"present")
nfl=POL249174

Bernard Karmell Pollard (born December 23, 1984 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American football safety for the Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League. He was drafted in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Pollard played college football at Purdue University. Pollard has been dubbed "The Bonecrusher" for his hard hits and tackles.

High school career

Pollard attended South Side High School and was a letterman in football, basketball and track & field. In football, as a senior, he was selected as "The News-Sentinel" Area Player of the Year, and was a first team All-State honoree.

College career

Bernard Pollard played all four years at Purdue University. As a Freshman, he was named a First Team Freshman All-American by Collegefootballnews.com, a second team by "The Sporting News" and was selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team by "The Sporting News" in 2003. He compiled 66 tackles (42 solo), one pass break-up and one fumble recovery.

In 2004, he was named as a second team All-Big Ten by coaches and honorable mention by the media. He led the team with 96 tackles (58 solo), 2 forced fumbles, 1 sack, five pass break-ups and one interception He also blocked four kicks (two punts, one extra point and one field goal).

Pollard's final year at Purdue was marred by altercations with coaches, the height of which occurred in the beginning of the season when he asked head coach Joe Tiller to "Give me my papers", indicating the preference to transfer. Tiller did not grant the transfer request, but the incident proved a precursor to a tumultuous final year. Despite this Pollard still compiled 92 tackles (64 solo), 3 interceptions, 3 pass break-ups, 1 fumble recovery and 1 blocked punt. His 5 blocked punts are a Purdue record.

NFL

Bernard was selected in the second round, 54th overall of the 2006 NFL Draft. Bernard played the majority of his rookie season on special teams and ended the year with 10 tackles, 1 pass break-up, 1 forced fumble and 3 blocked punts, one against Arizona, one against San Diego, and one against Jacksonville (recovered in the end zone for a touchdown). Pollard was a starter in the 2007 NFL season.

Pollard's blocked punt against the Jacksonville Jaguars and subsequent touchdown helped propel the Kansas City Chiefs to a 35-30 win and an eventual playoff berth.

He also blocked a punt against the Denver Broncos, in , that went out of the end zone for a safety. The Chiefs eventually lost, 27 to 11.

On September 7, 2008, Pollard was involved in a play that ended with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady being taken off the field with a knee injury and not returning for the rest of the game. It was later revealed that Pollard's hit on Brady had ended the quarterback's season.cite web|url=http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view/2008_09_07_Injury_to_Tom_Brady_deals_Super_quest_fatal_blow/srvc=home&position=also|title=Injury to Tom Brady deals Super quest fatal blow|last=Tomase|first=John|date=2008-09-08|publisher=The Boston Herald|accessdate=2008-09-08] Pollard later apologized for the hit, saying, "It was really an accident, I can't change what happened. I can't do anything but pray for him and hope he has a speedy recovery."cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Sep08/0,4670,FBNBradyPollard,00.html|title=Chiefs' Pollard regrets season-ending hit on Brady|last=Tucker|first=Doug|date=2008-09-08|publisher=Associate Press|accessdate=2008-09-09]

References

External links

* [http://www.kcchiefs.com/player/bernard_pollard/ Kansas City Chiefs bio page]