The name Bernard Pollard isn’t popular among New England Patriots fans for good reasons. Some would call it bad luck, and others have gone to far more nefarious extremes for the former NFL defensive back that Rob Gronkowski calls “the Patriot killer.”
When appearing on “Games with Names,” the legendary tight end commented on the defender some still view as the reason the Patriots didn’t win at least three more Super Bowls.
“Pollard was kind of like the Patriot killer,” said Gronkowski. “He took out [Tom Brady’s] knee. I think he messed up [Wes] Welker as well, in a way. I forgot that injury. He was kind of a Patriot killer. He was a dirty player, I feel like at the time. There was a lot of them back in the day though when the rules was kind of like whatever. You could do whatever out there as a defensive player.”
After having their perfect season ruined by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, there were high expectations for the Patriots in the 2008 season. It was set to be their revenge tour following one of the greatest upsets in NFL history.
However, Brady suffered a torn ACL in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs after taking a low hit from Pollard. He missed the rest of the season, and despite a valiant effort with Matt Cassel under center, the Patriots failed to make the playoffs.
September 7, 2008
Tom Brady vs Bernard Pollard
Patriots win game to increase their regular season winning streak to 20 but..
Brady is done for the season
Wonder if 31 YO Tom will ever fully recover – doubt it at that agehttps://t.co/UOA3r3dsCF
— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) September 7, 2022
A year later, Pollard had on a Houston Texans uniform, and he was the one in on the play that resulted in Welker tearing his ACL in Week 17 of the 2009 season.
Granted, Welker hurt himself on a non-contact injury, while attempting to make a move with the ball in his hands. So that injury really had nothing to do with Pollard.
But it’s still bizarre that he was the one credited with the tackle. That incident left the Patriots without one of their best playmakers in the postseason, and they got eliminated in the wild card round by the Baltimore Ravens.
Pollard was also responsible for the hip-drop tackle that injured Gronkowski in the 2011 AFC Championship Game.
Gronkowski was officially diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, and he looked like a shell of himself when attempting to play through the injury at Super Bowl XLVI, where the Patriots lost to the Giants, again.
After initially calling Pollard dirty, Gronkowski walked back the comments about his injury. He credited the former defender for a good tackle on that play in particular.
“I ain’t going to say it was a dirty play at all. It was a proper tackle, and he just ended up landing on my ankle,” said Gronkowski. “When I fell down, my ankle basically twisted the other way and snapped. It was a high sprain.”
Some often forget that Pollard was also the defender who delivered the knockout blow to former Patriots running back Stevan Ridley, causing a fumble and turnover on downs in the 2012 AFC Championship Game. The Patriots went on to lose that game 28-13 at Gillette Stadium.
It’s a weird run of coincidences that four of the most game-changing injuries for the Patriots involved one player.
