David M. Pollack (born June 19, 1982) is a former professional
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
who played in two seasons in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL), having suffered a career-ending injury in the second game of his second season. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
for the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
, was a three-time All-American, and was recognized as the top college defensive player in the nation. Pollack had 36 sacks during his collegiate career, third most in NCAA history. He was a first-round pick in the
2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...
, and played professionally for the NFL's
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
.
Early years
Pollack was born in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Shiloh High School in
Snellville, Georgia
Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. The population was 18,242 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the estimated population was 20,077. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and a part of the Atlanta metro ...
, and was a star in football,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
and
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
. In football, as a senior, he was a Class 5A all-state selection and the Atlanta Touchdown Club named him the Defensive Lineman of the Year.
College career
Pollack attended the University of Georgia, where he played for coach
Mark Richt
Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is a retired American football head coach, former player, and television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mater, ...
's
Georgia Bulldogs football
The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...
team from 2001 to 2004 and was a roommate of future NFL
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
David Greene.
For three consecutive seasons, he was recognized as a first-team All-
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
,
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
)—twice as an NCAA consensus first-team honoree, having received the first-team selections of a majority of All-America selector organizations in 2002 and 2004. He is only the second player in Bulldogs team history to earn first-team All-American honors in three seasons, following Heisman Trophy-winner
Herschel Walker
Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia.
...
. In addition to his All-American accolades, Pollack received the following:
* SEC Player of the Year Award (2002, 2004)
* SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award (2004)
*
Chuck Bednarik Award
The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ame ...
(2004)
*
Ted Hendricks Award
The Ted Hendricks Award is given annually to college football's top defensive end. The award is named after Ted Hendricks, a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is presented by his own foundation. I ...
(2003, 2004)
*
Lombardi Award
The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombar ...
(2004)
*
Lott Trophy
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize th ...
(2004)
His signature play came during the second game of the 2002 season. Pollack batted down a pass from
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Corey Jenkins in the South Carolina end zone and managed to catch the ball in the end zone before it hit the ground; Pollack was credited with a 0-yard interception return for a touchdown. Pollack finished his college career with 36 sacks, a Georgia career record, and ranks third in NCAA history.
He graduated from the University of Georgia with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in history.
Professional career
NFL career and injury
In his rookie season of 2005, Pollack was a reserve until the Bengals' sixth game, when he became a starter at linebacker. He missed two games due to a sprained knee. However, he still ranked second on the team with 4.5 sacks on the season, and posted 22 tackles and six assists for a total of 28.
In his second NFL season, 2006, he started the Bengals' first game. On September 17, 2006, in game against in-state rival
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
, Pollack suffered what was later determined to be a broken sixth
cervical vertebrae
In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In ...
on a first quarter tackle on
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
Reuben Droughns
Reuben Droughns (; born August 21, 1978) is a retired American football running back. After playing college football at the University of Oregon, he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 2000 NFL Draft.
During his nine year ...
. He reportedly suffered no
paralysis
Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...
, but was taken off the field on a stretcher and underwent surgery to fuse two
vertebrae
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic i ...
, and was required to wear a halo brace for three months. Pollack's injury was determined to be a possible career-ending one. However, on January 7, 2007,
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
reported that Pollack would be able to resume his career as long as the rehabilitation process went as planned. On July 11, 2007, it was announced that Pollack would not play at all during the 2007 season as his recovery continued.
On April 22, 2008, Bengals head coach
Marvin Lewis
Marvin Ronald Lewis (born September 23, 1958) is an American football coach who is the special advisor to the head coach at Arizona State. Previously, Lewis was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League (NFL) for 1 ...
announced that Pollack was "not completely comfortable where he asmedically" and that he would retire.
Career after football
Pollack's new company, FanBan, manufactures sports banners that feature sports photographs and college football team logos. FanBan events have raised $4,321 for the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
scholarships that help underprivileged kids participate in YMCA programs as of February 10, 2008.
On September 9, 2008, Pollack began a new career as an afternoon sports talk host on Atlanta's 790 ''The Zone''. Also in 2008, Pollack began studio work for
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
's college football coverage. In 2009, Pollack joined ESPN as a college football analyst.
In fall 2011, he became part of ESPN's '' College GameDay'' and a host on the ''Palmer and Pollack'' show.
In summer 2012, it was announced that Pollack would join
Rece Davis
Rece Davis (born }) is an American sports television journalist for ESPN/ESPN on ABC, ABC. Davis works as an anchor on ''SportsCenter'' and serves as host of various other programs on the network, including ''College GameDay (football TV program ...
Samantha Ponder
Samantha Ponder ( née Steele; born December 11, 1985) is an American sportscaster who is the host of '' Sunday NFL Countdown'' on ESPN. Prior to hosting Sunday NFL Countdown, Ponder worked as a reporter/host for ESPN college football and as a ...
on ESPN's ''Thursday Night Football'', replacing Craig James.
In October 2013, he received harsh criticism for his public comments that women should not be allowed to serve on the
College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...
selection committee because they had not played the game.
On March 11, 2020, Pollack was announced as one of the newest members of the College Football Hall of Fame. He was announced live on air by his College Gameday colleague,
Rece Davis
Rece Davis (born }) is an American sports television journalist for ESPN/ESPN on ABC, ABC. Davis works as an anchor on ''SportsCenter'' and serves as host of various other programs on the network, including ''College GameDay (football TV program ...
.
Personal life
Pollack is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. Pollack is married to Lindsey Pollack. They have one son and one daughter.
David and Lindsey Pollack created The Pollack Family Foundation, an organization with a vision of “… a nation of healthy families” and a mission to “… educate individuals, families and communities on the benefits of nutrition and exercise, and provide them opportunities to embrace healthy living through eating well and physical activity.“