Bernard Pollard was one of the key members of the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl-winning defense last season. Despite his great season last year, the team released him in March. He signed with the Tennessee Titans, and it sounds like there are some hard feelings between him and some people associated with the team.
During an interview with Norris & Davis Show on 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore, Pollard said he was “stunned a little bit” over his release. He said he would not be joining the team in DC for its celebratory visit to the White House, explaining that he already had a family vacation scheduled. But he says he would not have made the trip anyway even if he didn’t have a conflict.
“I’m not gonna be there,” Pollard told the hosts, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m either going to have someone get my ring or have them ship it to me. I gotta sit this one out, man. I actually have a vacation with my family and then I’m coming back to get [my ring]. If I didn’t have a vacation, I wouldn’t come anyway.”
“If I didn’t have a vacation, I still wouldn’t want to go. I’m not sour,” said Pollard.
“It’s not my teammates. It’s not my teammates at all. I would celebrate with them any time, any day of the week I would celebrate with them. But at the end of the day, I know what happened, I know what took place. . . . I’m sorry, but I just don’t want to be in the room with certain people.”
Pollard was going to count for $3.5 million against the salary cap this season, which doesn’t seem like a ton for what he would do. He said he believes the story GM Ozzie Newsome told him regarding his release.
Pollard led the Ravens in tackles last season, but he isn’t great in pass coverage. The big reason that seems to account for his release is what appears to be a rocky relationship with coach John Harbaugh. The team reportedly had a near mutiny situation in October, and Pollard along with Ed Reed were said to have been the strongest opponents to Harbaugh. Reed signed with another team while Pollard was released. That likely explains his release and bitter comments.
