Marcus Pollard
 Pollard in 2012 | |||||||||
| Jacksonville Jaguars | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Director of player engagement and youth football | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | February 8, 1972 Valley, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Valley (Valley, Alabama) | ||||||||
| College | |||||||||
| NFL draft | 1995: undrafted | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
* Offseason or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Marcus LaJuan Pollard (born February 8, 1972) is an American former professional football tight end who is currently the director of player engagement and youth football for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks, and Atlanta Falcons. Pollard was also an off-season member of the New England Patriots.
Early life
[edit]Marcus Pollard was born on February 8, 1972, in Valley, Alabama and attended Valley High School, where he played both football and basketball.[1]
College career
[edit]Seward County Community College
[edit]Pollard began his college basketball career at Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kansas from 1990 to 1992. While at Seward, Pollard averaged 12.3 points per game and won 28 total games. As a sophomore, Pollard averaged 14.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.[2]
Bradley University
[edit]Pollard transferred to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois for his junior and senior seasons.[3] Pollard started 49 of 58 games at Forward during his two years with Bradley, where he averaged 7.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game with a 49.7% field goal percentage.[4] In the 1993–94 season, Pollard helped Bradley complete a turnaround from their previous 11–16 record. Bradley finished with a 23–8 record, having reached the third round of the National Invitational Tournament.[5]
Pollard was inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame in 2017.[6][5]
Professional career
[edit]Indianapolis Colts (1995-2004)
[edit]Despite not having played college football,[7] Pollard was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 1995. He spent 10 seasons with the Colts, initially as a blocking tight end. However, Pollard quickly developed into a reliable pass-catching tight end, and ended his time in Indianapolis with a total of 263 receptions for 3,391 yards and 35 touchdowns.[8]
Pollard's breakout season with the Colts came in 1998. He started 11 of 16 games and had 24 receptions for 309 yards and four touchdowns. The 2001 season was Pollard's best, when he totaled 47 receptions for 739 yards and eight touchdowns.[8] On November 11, 2004, Pollard caught two touchdowns to help the Colts to a 31–28 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.[9]
After the emergence of tight end Dallas Clark in Indianapolis left Pollard expendable, Pollard was released following the 2004 season.[10]
Detroit Lions (2005-2006)
[edit]Pollard spent two seasons with the Detroit Lions, where he started 21 of 31 games. His most productive season in Detroit came in 2005, where Pollard started all 16 games and recorded 46 receptions for 516 yards and three touchdowns. He was released by the Lions following the 2006 season.[11]
Seattle Seahawks (2007)
[edit]The Seattle Seahawks signed Pollard for the 2007 season, his only year in Seattle. Pollard started 10 of the 14 games he appeared in, with 28 receptions for 273 yards and two touchdowns.[12]
New England Patriots (2008)
[edit]Pollard signed with the New England Patriots prior to the 2008 season. However, he was released in August before the regular season began.[13]
Atlanta Falcons (2008)
[edit]After being released from the Patriots, Pollard was picked up by the Atlanta Falcons at the beginning of the 2008 season. He was there for one year before retiring.[1]
NFL career statistics
[edit]Regular season
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1995 | IND | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | IND | 16 | 4 | 6 | 86 | 14.3 | 48 | 1 |
| 1997 | IND | 16 | 6 | 10 | 116 | 11.6 | 28 | 0 |
| 1998 | IND | 16 | 11 | 24 | 309 | 12.9 | 44 | 4 |
| 1999 | IND | 16 | 12 | 34 | 374 | 11.0 | 33 | 4 |
| 2000 | IND | 16 | 14 | 30 | 439 | 14.6 | 50 | 3 |
| 2001 | IND | 16 | 16 | 47 | 739 | 15.7 | 86 | 8 |
| 2002 | IND | 15 | 15 | 43 | 478 | 11.1 | 41 | 6 |
| 2003 | IND | 14 | 13 | 40 | 541 | 13.5 | 70 | 3 |
| 2004 | IND | 13 | 13 | 29 | 309 | 10.7 | 31 | 6 |
| 2005 | DET | 16 | 16 | 46 | 516 | 11.2 | 86 | 3 |
| 2006 | DET | 15 | 5 | 12 | 100 | 8.3 | 22 | 0 |
| 2007 | SEA | 14 | 10 | 28 | 273 | 9.8 | 22 | 2 |
| 2008 | ATL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 192 | 135 | 349 | 4,280 | 12.3 | 86 | 40 | |
Postseason
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1995 | IND | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | IND | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| 2000 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2002 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2003 | IND | 3 | 3 | 10 | 156 | 15.6 | 32 | 1 |
| 2004 | IND | 2 | 2 | 3 | 30 | 10.0 | 25 | 0 |
| 2007 | SEA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2008 | ATL | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 6 | 0 |
| Career | 14 | 10 | 19 | 235 | 12.4 | 32 | 1 | |
Front office career
[edit]Since 2013, Pollard has served as the Director of Player Engagement and Youth Football for the Jacksonville Jaguars.[14][15]
Personal life
[edit]Pollard and his wife, Amani, were cast members of the reality television show The Amazing Race 19.[16] They finished the competition in third place out of 11 teams. They have four children.[17] Pollard's son, Micah, currently plays college football for the University of Michigan.[18]
References
[edit]- 1 2 O'Halloran, Ryan (August 3, 2013). "Art of listening: Jaguars' Marcus Pollard knows his role as head of player development". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ "Marcus Pollard". Seward Saints Men's Basketball. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ Steinberg, Jacob (October 2, 2020). "How Marcus Pollard's unconventional NFL career started on the Hilltop". The Bradley Scout. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ "Marcus Pollard". Sports Reference CBB. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- 1 2 "Hall of Fame: Marcus Pollard". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ "1993-94 Basketball (M) Roster, #3 Marcus Pollard". Bradley Braves. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ Mihoces, Gary (April 20, 2005). "NFL seeks best players on the court or mat". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
- 1 2 Wilson, Philip B. (July 17, 2013). "Indianapolis Colts' best undrafted free agents: No. 1, tight end Marcus Pollard". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ Duo break NFL's quarterback-receiver completions record
- ↑ "Colts release tight end Marcus Pollard and four other starters". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 3, 2005. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
- ↑ Cotsonika, Nicholas J. (March 3, 2007). "Lions trade Hall, eye White". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Marcus Pollard 2007 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
- ↑ "Transactions". Longview Daily News. August 20, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Gene Frenette: Jaguars' draft still up for discussion | Jax Air News". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- ↑ "Marcus Pollard". Jaguars.com. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ↑ Ross, Dalton (August 31, 2011). "'Survivor' winners Ethan and Jenna head up new 'Amazing Race' cast. Plus: New twists revealed! -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 10, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ↑ "Marcus Pollard". Jacksonville Jaguars. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.
- ↑ Sang, Orion (July 12, 2021). "3-star LB Micah Pollard, nephew of Braylon Edwards, commits to Michigan football". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
External links
[edit]- Atlanta Falcons bio
- Detroit Lions bio
- New England Patriots bio Archived April 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- 1972 births
- Living people
- American football tight ends
- Atlanta Falcons players
- Basketball players from Alabama
- American men's basketball players
- Bradley Braves men's basketball players
- Detroit Lions players
- Indianapolis Colts players
- Jacksonville Jaguars executives
- Junior college men's basketball players in the United States
- New England Patriots players
- People from Valley, Alabama
- Seattle Seahawks players
- Participants in American reality television series
- 20th-century American sportsmen