In life, there is a natural and inherent portion of unfairness. Real life isn’t like the movies…the good guy isn’t usually the winner, small towns rarely bond together to bring down the powerful overlord, the underdog rarely wins, and the innocent aren’t sheltered but taken advantage of.Well, the NFL is typically the same. And the case of David Pollack is no different.

After staying his senior season and completing his degree, Pollack left the University of Georgia and was drafted 17th in the 2005 NFL Draft. It took some time for him to adjust to a switch to linebacker, but by the end of his rookie season, Pollack was showing his 3-time All-American abilities.He had taken over a starting position by the midway point in the season and produced his best two games in Week 17 (7 tackles & 2 sacks against Kansas City) and in the first round of the playoffs against rival Pittsburgh (a career-high 10 tackles including becoming the first Bengal rookie to record a sack). Things looked promising for the Shiloh High School product out of Snellville, Georgia as he headed into his second professional season.

Pollack was primed for a breakout season, but injuries forced him to miss all but one preseason game, and despite playing in the first game of the season, he failed to make a tackle. However, #99 had regained his starting position in Week 2 and was determined to have a big game against division rival Cleveland. So on the second defensive play when Browns’ running back Reuben Droughns came off left tackle and Pollack met him no one was shocked…at least not until he didn’t jump up and head back to the defensive huddle with his seemingly never-ending exuberance.

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(Bengals Photo)

Instead of the unquellable energy that endlessly leaks from Pollack’s pores, the linebacker lay face down without moving. After being removed on a stretcher, he was taken to a local hospital where x-rays revealed a fractured vertebrae in his neck. Luckily, Pollack still had mobility in his arms and legs suffering no paralysis, but after having surgery his head and neck had to be immobilized in a halo brace for almost three months.

Pollack spent the remainder of the 2006 season and all of last season doing extensive rehabilitation and training in an attempt to return to the gridiron. Nonetheless, he made it known a doctor would have to clear him and “tell him he could play football again “and not be a greater risk’ for a spinal injury.”

If doctors couldn’t promise him, he claimed he would hang up his cleats and just be thankful for the opportunities he’s had and the people he’s been able to meet:

“Even if I can’t play football again, I feel blessed that I’ve been able to play a kids’ game this long,” he said. “The experiences along the way have made me a better person, a stronger person. You learn a lot about life and who really cares about you when things like this happen.” (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

And according to Bengals’ head coach Marvin Lewis, Pollack hasn’t found the assurance he desires from doctors and appears to be headed toward retirement.

While troublesome players have repeatedly been given second chances in the league, Pollack won’t be getting that second opportunity. So, while Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones appears to be poised to be reinstated into the NFL, Michael Vick is being allowed to keep money from the Atlanta Falcons, and several of his Cincinnati Bengals teammates have been suspended (some on multiple occasions), it appears David Pollack, who was drafted as much for his upstanding character as for his football talents, is going to be forced to retire due to a broken neck after playing only 16 career games.

Instead of returning to the league to earn trips to the Pro Bowl and win Superbowl rings (as would happen in the movies), the good-natured and good-hearted Pollack, the type of man who “with his personality, he walks into a room with 15 guys and he’s got immediate credibility,” will be resigned to finding another means for his infectious attitude and work ethic.

Anyone who has met him could tell you he will be successful in whatever venture he decides to undertake, but it won’t be on the gridiron because Pollack decided risking his ability to walk wasn’t worth another shot on the field. Pollack received a raw deal, which is sad and unfortunate, but as his former Bengals’ linebacker coach Ricky Hunley stated:

“Yeah, it’s sad. He had a lot of promise and he was just starting to get used to playing linebacker,” Hunley said. “But not being able to hold your kids would be a whole lot sadder.” (Pollack’s Tough Decision - Cincinnati Bengals.com)

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