The New England Patriots, down 21-13 in the fourth quarter, were driving for the tying
score on Sunday when a man who has haunted them for years reared his head once more. Baltimore Ravens strong safety Bernard Pollard lowered his shoulder and bowled over Patriots running back Steven Ridley, forcing Ridley to crumble to the ground in a heap as the ball popped loose, a pivotal play in the contest. The Ravens recovered the fumble for the first turnover of the game and scored four plays later to go up 15 points; the Patriots never scored again.
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Ridley wouldn’t return to the game, out with a concussion, effectively ending his season since the Patriots lost and were eliminated. But this was nothing new for Pollard, he’s grown quite accustomed to terrorizing the Patriots. The Purdue University product has been a force against them no matter what uniform he’s donned.
While with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008, he ended Tom Brady’s season during the very first game, of the season. Pollard lunged at the quarterback’s knees and Brady’s ACL was torn. The play spawned a rule change to protect QBs, where defenders aren’t allowed to hit passers below the knees. Matt Cassell took over behind center and led the team to an 11-5record, though they missed the playoffs.
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji3iVpsel3I[/embed]
In Week 17 of the 2010 season, this time with the Houston Texans, Pollard closed in on star Patriots wideout Wes Welker and he cut to escape, resulting in a torn ACL for the shifty playmaker.
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RK4qhQWIUo[/embed]
Then in last year’s AFC Championship game between New England and Baltimore, Pollard dragged Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski from behind, causing Gronk to suffer a high ankle sprain, which he didn’t return from. He did play in Super Bowl XLVI against the New York Giants, but was only available in a limited capacity, which severely hindered the Patriots’ high-powered offense.
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With the new rules in the NFL clamping down on rough play, it has opened up offenses for teams, allowing for quarterbacks to more easily navigate the gridiron. But Pollard is a throwback to a time when football players clothes lined receivers and guys like Raiders Safety Jack Tatum reigned supreme.
Pollard has been fined often throughout his career for hits deemed as unnecessary roughness, but he hasn’t taken the blows to his wallet in stride. He’s been outspoken about the double standard in football pertaining to offensive players and contact hits and had this to say to the Baltimore Sun in November:
“We are football players. We are taught to react. Don't call it defense if we can't defend something. If they're reacting and ducking, we can't help that. We have a split second to make the tackle. We already used our split second. We got to go. We are a missile. We can't redirect. If they're ducking their head and doing other things you can't blame us for that.
"Us as defensive players, we need to stand up because we're at a disadvantage from the get-go. First of all, they're going forward and they're going backwards. I don't want to make an excuse, but it's getting tough as defensive layers any time we play this game and think. That's when all kind of bad things are going to happen.
"You can tell me an offensive player can stiff-arm a defensive player, grab his facemask and throw him to the ground and you all are perfectly OK with that. If we countered that to try to tackle him because he has our head jarred back, then it's an $8,000 fine for us. That's bull crap.”
Following the controversial play Sunday where Brady seemed to throw his spikes up at Ed Reed as he slid, Pollard was once again irked as Brady came out scot-free and revived his argument from a few months back.
“If you want to keep this going in the right direction, everyone should be penalized for their
actions,” said Pollard. “[Brady] knew what he was doing. It has to go both ways. Hopefully the NFL will do something about it. If they don’t, that’s fine. If they do, then that’s fine.”
“The Patriot Killer” doesn’t just excel at inflicting pain on opposing skill players; he’s also a solid pass defender. He’s racked up nine interceptions and nine sacks over seven seasons in the National Football League. But it’s as an in-the-box safety where Pollard does his best work. He consistently is among the leaders in tackles for his team, with 584 career tackles to his name.
As the San Francisco 49ers prepare for the Super Bowl, they’re sure to key in on all-time great safety Ed Reed, but they would be smart to pay attention to Pollard. With their rushing attack led by quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Frank Gore the focus of their offense, Pollard is certain to be in the box for much of the game and he’ll be looming, ready to deliver a punishing blow.
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