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Bernard Pollard bought 24 tickets for today’s game at Lucas Oil Stadium, and he expects even more friends and family members to arrive unannounced.
But he doesn’t want playing so close to his hometown of Fort Wayne to become a distraction.
“This is exciting, but at the same time I can’t get sidetracked by it because we are going to Indianapolis to win,” said Pollard, a safety with the Houston Texans. “We’re going there to pull off something that hasn’t been done before.”
That feat would be the Texans’ first victory in Indianapolis, where the Texans are 0-7. Houston is 1-13 all time against the Colts.
This will be Pollard’s first taste of the rivalry, though. He began the season with the Kansas City Chiefs, who he led in tackles last season, blowing out Tom Brady’s knee along the way, but he was surprisingly released Sept. 5.
Pollard, 24, who played at South Side and Purdue, said he doesn’t know why he was cut by the Chiefs, who took him in the second round in 2006. He implied there might have been a personality conflict with K.C.’s new regime of general manager Scott Pioli and coach Todd Haley.
“With professional athletes, you’re dealing with grown men. You’re not dealing with boys,” Pollard said. “You’re not in a locker room with sophomores in high school. You’re dealing with grown men with families. I have a wife. I have a son. And I have a daughter on the way. I’m not going to sit there and let you curse me out when you feel like cursing me out or talk to me any way you want to talk to me, and you just want me to sit and take it and say, ‘Yes, coach.’
“I respect others because that’s what I want in return. It was shocking to get let go, but I’m a Texan, and I’m happy to be one.”
Pollard, 6-foot-1, 224 pounds, has 21 solo tackles, third most on the Texans (5-3), in only five games this season. He’s now a starter.
“The system is similar to what we ran in Kansas City my first two years. I like it,” said Pollard, known mostly for his hard hitting. “The only thing is the verbiage is so different and they call things differently here. But it’s football. A lot of people want to play in the NFL, but part of being a pro is when your name is called and your number is called, you’ve got to be able to fill that position of need.”
Today, the Texans will need him to help shut down the 7-0 Colts’ fourth-ranked offense, and their top-ranked passing game.
“Peyton Manning is a great quarterback,” Pollard said. “I was watching some film today and the commentator called him ‘a computer on the field.’ That’s basically what he is. He’s a computer that sees a lot of information. He downloads and everything else. With his study and preparation during the week, he’s a great player.”
