No Surprise: Bernard Pollard Has No Problem With Bountygate
NFL.com – The bounty scandal swirling around the New Orleans Saints doesn’t directly involve Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard, but he isn’t shy about expressing his opinion on the matter — or taking a shot at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “From what I see, we’re going to be running around with helmets and flags on, and I guess in about seven years,” Pollard told KILT-AM in Houston this week, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “So like I said, it’s getting out of hand. I don’t know what (Goodell’s) trying to prove, I don’t know what the NFL office is trying to prove. Guys are getting hit all the time. We get hit. This is a freaking violent sport. We get hit… I don’t care if you do a bounty or not, because me — the way I’m playing — I’m going to hit you straight in the mouth. And if you have a concussion by me hitting you in the mouth … you know what? I don’t mean to. I’m not meaning to hurt you, but this is my game. It’s my life or your life. It’s my family or yours.”
Typical. Freaking typical. This is exactly the kind of cheapass pig ignorant nonsense I’d expect to hear out of Pollard. The Patient Zero of Patriots lower leg injuries. He dove at Brady’s knee. He twisted Gronk’s ankle like a pepper mill. Hell, he was even on the field for Houston in the last week of 2009 when Welker blew out his knee, which I always figured he had nothing to do with but now I’m not so sure. Because now he’s basically admitting he’s a cheapshot artist. Oh, I’m not meaning to hurt you, but your defenseless ACL can’t stand up to the crown of my helmet slamming into it with blunt force, that’s your fault not mine. And Pollard’s punkism has cost the Pats at least one Super Bowl and probably two.
I mean, listen to this. This is the stuff Pollard’s defending with his “we’re gonna be playing flag football” fake tough guy ragtime:
Not guys playing hard. Not rewarding hard hits or good clean form tackles. But this:
“At one point Williams says, ‘We hit fucking Smith right there” – then he points under his chin [and continues] – ‘remember me.’ Then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers – the cash sign – and says, ‘I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that motherfucker out… We’ve got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore’s head”
That’s what Pollard thinks is OK, then fine. Then I’ll make a deal with the rest of the NFL. Anyone who cheap shots Bernard Pollard next year, dives at his ACL and knocks him out for the year? I’ve got a [rubs my thumb against my index and middle fingers- the cash sign-] $10 Dunkin Donuts gift card and a “Ball Don’t Lie” t-shirt for you. How you like them apples, Pollard? @JerryThornton1
I hope Pollard gets raped in the ass by an escaped prisoner, contracts AIDS, but doesn’t die because I will pay to keep him on life support and in excruciating pain. Guy is just a fucking loser.
“Pollard’s punkism has cost the Pats at least one Super Bowl and probably two.”
God, you are such a fucking joke Thornton. Go fucking kill yourself
You know what’s real funny after listening to that audio. It was the 49ers that were the more physical team. Whitner knocked Thomas out of the game.
I agree with Pollard when he says it’s a violent game and Goodell is being a fucking idiot. On every other front though, I think he’s a fucking moron. Guys like him just never learn when to shut the fuck up and act right (see Pac-Man Jones)
Pollard is scum. If Goodell wants to clean up the league, get that motherfucker out of it. And I have a hard time believing speeches like Williams’ don’t go on all of the time. The payment aspect might not, but telling players to fuck up the opponent does happen.
I can’t figure out if you’re a troll or an idiot, and I don’t know which is worse. He did not twist Gronkowski’s ankle, he landed on it, not his fault. A bunch of other players have also come out and said they have no problem with bounties, including Marcellus Wiley, who has a reputation as a good guy. He’s not commenting on Greg Williams’ speech, jsut bounties in general.
I saw that interview. Pollard is a complete maggot. I have never once as a football fan wished injury on any player in any situation. That’s over. I want that motherfucker shoveled off the field. Just a complete wet spot monkey spunk from the fat bitch you have denied you nailed. Take him out-then play the interview in his ear. GET HIM!!
It’s April and you’re writing blogs that give excuses for losing Super Bowls. Honestly don’t even want to say anything because you live a sad fucking life already.
It’s football -These guys are animals, they are paid to be animals. If it’s an illegal hit, throw a flag – end of story
Pennington hit the nail on the head with Jerry. Just Pathetic. On another note, Pollard is the man, wish he was on the Jets.
I fucking love Bernard Polliard. Talk about taking shit out of context, read the whole interview you dumbass. If Patrick Chung or another one of the Pats shitty defenders had said that, you’d be all like, ‘yea this league is getting soft.’ But it wasn’t one of the players on the lowest ranked pass defense, it was Bernard Motherfucking Polliard. I’m sorry that he plays hard, that’s what he does.
That bitch Pollard has been intentionally hurting people for years. Fucking cheap-shot PUNK!!
these fucking monkeys like Pollard wouldnt be able to grasp the concept that head hits and diving at guys knees has been outlawed even if you wrote it nice and big in crayon on a poster board. I hope guys like him and Harrison thank God everyday that they were given great physical talent because they are so fucking retarded i dont even think they could hold a job as a janitor otherwise
Typical wine and cheese Pats fan. Cry me a river.
I think he injured Gronk on purpose. Who tackles like that? Instead of diving and wrapping the legs or waist, he grabbed on and swung his whole body at Gronk’s legs. Sure it’s legal, but it’s a lot more dangerous than a standard tackle.
I love how Thornton always riles up the idiot NY fans. If you disagree that the Gronk injury probably cost us the super bowl, you are much dumber than you say Thornton is. The guy was the #1 offensive weapon in football last season. As for ’08, it’s obviously a huge reach to say losing Brady cost us the Super Bowl, but that team still went 11-5 with a guy that hadn’t started a football game since high school at QB, they would easily have been the best team in football with Brady. That was a particularly weak NFL season anyway. Fuck Pollard, I can’t wait to read the stories about him being broke in 5 years living off of welfare.
meriweathershelmet,
Nothing tells me I’m on target like reading the words “pathetic” and “go kill yourself” from these inbred creeps with their closets full of Pennington and Favre jerseys.
Cubs win, you’re a fucking moron. Seriously, just kill yourself. I hate this notion that these guys are just animals basically put on this earth to entertain us, so fuck it if they leave the game with scrambled eggs for brains. They are paid to play football, a sport where an injury is an unfortunate incident that is part of the game. They aren’t paid to go out there and have Jonathan Vilma try to rip their fucking heads off so he can collect some cash and butt slaps from his “boys”. Anyone who uses the anything like the phrase “let’s put skirts on them” when talking about something like this should be castrated.
If you’re a football player and you don’t try to hit everyone you can as hard as you can then you’re a vagina end of story. Yes targeting the head and knees is a cheap move. But I’d rather not watch football than watch a bunch of fairies arm tackle each other.
What else can you expect from guys named “yankees4lyfe” and “ChadPennington”? Their football knowledge begins and ends with “THe PAtRiots R CheETRS!!!” Keep up the good work Thornton, you’re the only knowledgeable sports writer on this site that doesn’t devote 95% of their life to hockey.
The Jets are just an entertaining shitshow with a lard of a coach, I’m no fan. If you didn’t assume Chad Pennington was a satirical username you’re taking the bss comments section wayyy too seriously. The point Thornton, is that you need to man up like Pres and admit, “Damn, we got spanked twice by the Eli, time to lay low for a bit”
PS this is what Bernie was doing as you wrote this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6xoiI2ttT0
bonersquirtgun, way to miss the entire point of the blog and/or the entire Bountygate scandal. Pretty sure no football fan on earth wants hard hitting taken out of the game. No shit nobody wants arm tackles. The entire point of Bountygate is guys going out of their way to hurt other players.
And how would one assume that Chad Pennington is a satirical nickname when you come on a Patriots blog post and trash the writer? It makes you look like every other jealous Jets fan celebrating your AFC Divisional Round trophies. Your point about manning up has nothing to do with the fact that Eli never would have had that second trophy had Gronks ankle not been dislocated by that lowlife. If Pollard had torn Victor Cruz’ ankle off 2 weeks before the Super Bowl, don’t you think that would have affected the Giants offense by at least 4 points? Didn’t he catch a TD? A healthy Gronk easily swings that game, any knowledgeable football fan can admit that.
Smithers FTW!
I didn’t read anything about him going for the legs. He said hit you in the mouth. Chin. You patriots fans are all a bunch of d bags.
^Fuck you
i’m absolutely dumbfounded that this bounty shit is a major issue. spygate was ridiculous, but THIS is next-level ridiculous. IT’S FUCKING FOOTBALL. one of the first things i was taught as a young player at 8 or 9 years old was that when you hit someone, hit them with everything you’ve got and lay them the FUCK out. basically, i was told to take everything in life that made me mad, and channel it into football, and make some kid pay for it in between the chalk. free pass to fuck someone up. and i’m sure these guys aren’t taught any differently. goodell is clearly not a football player, he just doesn’t get that the physicality CANNOT be toned down.
as far as pollard goes, i agree that if not for him we’d have at least one more ring. the pats were poised to come back strong in ’08, and i think gronk very well could have made the difference in this last one we were in. but as big of a pats’ fan as i am, i can’t genuinely hate pollard. his plays WEREN’T dirty. you could argue that it was careless when he hurt brady, but i’d coach any player of mine to make that 2nd effort. it was a freak accident. and you REALLY can’t say shit about the gronk injury. standard tackle that you see 10,000 times a season. gronk has a good 50 lbs on pollard, so he got dragged off his feet, and unfortunately he happened to fall on gronk’s leg. go out and tackle someone at full speed and see how little control you have. the leg just got caught. tough break. pats were lucky to be there anyway, even sniffing the playoffs with the defense we had to wheel out there every week is a remarkable accomplishment in my mind, and i feel very positive about this coming year because of it. (sorry, giants fans) and the fact that welker ripped his knee up trying to evade him is a wild coincidence, nothing more.
bottom line: the pollard connection is DEFINITELY eerie, but it’s purely coincidental. you can “blame” him i guess, but none of it was ever dirty.
I literally made this account to comment on this article. Thornton is a troll, and just says ridiculous shit to get a rise out of NY fans. Oh yeah, you would have had two more superbowls if it wasn’t for Pollard? Seriously? Get a fucking clue you scumbag. On top of that, his blogs are boring as shit and if el pres had any sense he would be gone, its bringing down the quality of BS.
Thanks for that in depth analysis Dro. Truth is you’re mad he ain’t a Pat.
Wow, you made this account to tell Thornton to kill himself. You’re a real winner. Thornton has forgotten more about the sport of football than you’ll ever know, and if you don’t like his posts then don’t read them. Nobody is forcing you.
Dro man, I agree with you that Pollard didn’t exactly go out there trying to tear Brady’s ACL or Gronk’s ankle, but at the same time the guys comments show what kind of a man he really is, so you have to wonder. As far as Goodell, he’s trying to save his sport from a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit that is being prepared by the retired players of the NFL. As with anything, it all comes down to money and the NFL stands to lose A LOT. Evidence like the Greg Williams tape that came out today is seriously damning and I’m pretty sure a jury in a court room isn’t going to be made up of NFL players who don’t see an issue with targeting concussed players in the head. We know 200% more about concussions today than we did even 3 years ago and it has become the #1 issue in not just football, but all of sports. When you have a coach and team that is paying its players money on the side for targeting and injuring players, you have a real issue in todays world. This isn’t the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s or even 2000s anymore, and the league has changed. The physicality HAS been toned WAY down. What Goodell has done may have geared the game more towards offense, which is evidenced by Brees, Brady, and Stafford all going over 5000 yards this season, but it has also shown the general public that they are taking the concussion issue very seriously. THAT is why this bountygate thing is such a huge issue, not because they want the defensive players to wear skirts and paint their nails.
Meriweathershelmet comment at 11:48 is the most spot-on comment ever written on this site. Well done, sir.
Haha I wouldn’t go that far. The majority of people are just overlooking the most important aspect to this whole thing, the lawsuit. The number of former NFL players that have no short term memory is staggering and scary. They may be called to testify and have no clue what they are even doing. Others deal with debilitating headaches all day every day. Watching muhammed Ali in Miami the other night for opening night, the poor guy can’t do ANYTHING for himself. That is a direct result of the countless head injuries he sustained. I know I may be a hypocrite because of my username (done more in gest than anything) but something had to be done. These guys are in worse shape than a lot of war veterans, yet don’t have nearly the same support.
Haha, NE fans are such cry babies and masters of excuses it’s unbelieveable. Next year’s excuse? Global warming!?!? I’m going to start a Wha-burger and French Cries restaurant in Foxborough. You are all invited. (Add a box of tissues for $1!!!)
Pollards hits on Brady & Gronk were absolutely “take-out” cheap shots intended to cripple both players. Look at the damn replays, you morons.
If anyone wants to start a pool to do likewise to Pollard, I’m willing to toss in $50. Out of the Patriot Nation, I’ll bet you could collect an easy $50,000. It would be worth it to get that loudmouthed trash in a wheelchair.