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Thread: Bernard Pollard responds
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Re: Bernard Pollard responds
The more I read about the whole incident, the less I believe the rumor mongers at PFT.com and Yahoo and their whole notion that Pollard was dumped by Harbaugh because of his role in a locker room mutiny.
In the end, I don't believe this was a knee-jerk reaction to Pollard's outspokenness, as PTF.com would have you believe.
I've changed my view and now think they factored in a number of things in making their decision to move on from Bernard; money, performance, and personality were all factors, but none more than any other.
This idea that it was retaliation for the "mutiny" feels more and more like an invention of a couple writers trying to dress up speculation as fact. Look at how PFT got quotes from Bernard. They went to him and said, in effect, "there is speculation that you were cut because of the mutiny, how do you feel about that?" And they got him to react, and say that Harbaugh should have been more honest.
Think about it. You have a situation where no one who was involved is on record saying this was about the mutiny, and in fact they are all on record saying it was about other issues, and in fact the "mutiny" turned into a positive thing according to everyone. And yet PFT goes to Pollard and pokes him with a stick, asking him to comment on ... the speculation they/Mike Silver themselves cooked up!
Even their anonymous league source doesn't really tell you much about why he is cut, and this is as close as they've come to a confirmation about Pollard being cut because he is a troublemaker. They are quoting speculation by an unnamed third party who falls short of actually explaining what exactly he seems to be inferring....
As one league source said in response to the news, “Three teams in how many years. Soon four. What does that tell you?”
It sounds like the league source thinks Pollard is a cancer. But you still don't know -- maybe it tells you the league thinks he's a hard hitting safety who doesn't carry out his individual assignment, freelances, and botches coverage assignments -- he's too one dimensional. Maybe that's what it tells me.
I realize Harbaugh, and maybe the source, isn't going to come out and trash Pollard for being a trouble maker.
But if you read accounts of the "mutiny" episode back in October--direct quotes from Harbaugh--he certainly goes out of his way to explain that he wasn't bothered by players speaking up.
God knows Harbaugh rarely gives you anything, so for him to speak candidly about the incident, it makes me think he isn't bullshitting us. It would be too easy for him to do what he normally does, say nothing, if he didn't want to reveal how much Pollard (and Reed) were problems in the locker room.
Here is what Harbaugh did say on the topic (which Mike Florio at PFT.com seems to go out of his way to exclude in his reporting of the "mutiny backlash.")....
[Pollard and Reed] had some good points, and I had some good points. Other guys stood up and said some great things. To me, it embodied everything that you should have on a team. The point was that, we have what I call ‘Open Mic,’ and we can all say anything that we need to say and have to say. You know then that you’re responsible — when you say it, everybody’s gonna hear it, so you’d better make it your best stuff. That brings out the best. Otherwise, it’s ‘Why are they sneaking around talking behind corners?’ You know what I mean? If you’ve got something, you put it right out here in front of me. I’m man enough to handle it. If you’re right, then you’re right! It’s OK to be right. But more important it’s OK to be wrong. And it’s OK for me to be wrong, too.
At worst, it sounds like Harbaugh had a problem with Reed and Pollard privately making cancerous statements to fellow players -- and he addressed it by making sure it was all put out in the open.
He could have avoided the locker room sickness and just cut out these cancers at the end of the year, but instead it seems like he successfully treated the issue right on the spot.
When I think about Harbaugh I think of a guy who, at the very least, would feel obliged to advise the player how he needs to act differently at his next stop -- if in fact he had a problem with that player's behavior.
PFT.com also left out of their reporting the way in which Silver originally reported the locker room reaction to the "mutiny." Back when it happened Silver quoted an unnamed player as saying...
But the way Coach Harbaugh handled it was amazing. He let people have their say, and he listened, and he explained himself, and pretty soon it was like a big group-therapy session. In the end, a lot of positive things were said. We didn't practice in pads, but we came out of there stronger as a group."
Sounds like PFT.com is more interested in generating controversy than reporting truth. And normally I don't trash them.Last edited by Shas; 04-01-2013 at 04:46 PM.
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Re: Bernard Pollard responds
I agree. I think it has far more to do with what they want from the defense- and especially strong safety- than Pollard being outspoken.
The "near mutiny" was Harbaugh's finest hour last year. It ended up solidifying him as The Leader of the team. I doubt he holds a grudge over it.
Pollard wasn't as bad at coverage as he played in the SB, but he wasn't anything to write home about in that regard, either. No one gets giddy thinking of Pollard in pass coverage, and QB's and receivers are anything but fearful. Ozzie has tried to beef up the run defense in the front seven: it's reasonable to think he's looking more towards pass defense in the back end.
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Re: Bernard Pollard responds
I don't know. The main weird thing is they gave him an extension last year. They knew what they had in terms of his performance on the field. Did his performance really change THAT much that they go from giving him an extension to dumping him? Or were there external forces at work?
I think it was a combination of both but it is unusual for Ozzie to cut a guy the year after giving him an extension. Where theres smoke I think there has to be SOME fire.
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04-01-2013, 02:10 PM #29Pro Bowl Poster
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Re: Bernard Pollard responds
Shas is spot on. The title of the original article says it all - "Mutiny" (their own quotes) may have been (my underlining)....
And the evidence presented? None.
Even in the original reporting, Ed Reed took issue with the players' performance in that same practice. Coach agreed to leave the pads off, and Ed called everyone out because he didn't think they were giving it their best. So clearly the "mutiny" did produce some goodwill or meeting of the minds between Ed and Harbaugh.
It's odd, I never heard any stuff about Pollard being a loudmouth or a pain in the ass in the locker room until after he was cut. Other than this "mutiny" story, which doesn't sound much like a mutiny at all to me.
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04-01-2013, 02:21 PM #30Pro Bowl Poster
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Re: Bernard Pollard responds
Even though it may have been necessary, releasing Pollard and trading Boldin were the only two moves the team has made this offseason that bothered me.
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04-01-2013, 02:36 PM #31
Re: Bernard Pollard responds
lol yea right. i mean i don't know what happened behind the scenes anymore than anyone else, but i saw plenty of footage of the past season where harbs was CONSTANTLY in many different players' ears getting advice from them and asking what they thought of the situation. that's why there was chemistry, that's why the team ended up so tight. or at least that was part of it. it didn't look to me like he ever shut anybody out of his ear or screamed at a player who dared darken his office doorway.
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Re: Bernard Pollard responds
It's possible that they never intended to honor the three years they signed him to. If I recall correctly when they signed him to an extension his original 2012 base salary of $1.5 million was cut in half -- the roster bonus and prorated portion from the original contract stayed the same. So they did get some cap relief by extending him, and may have always held out the option of cutting him after one year, after they were able to assess their other options.
Afterall, they had just lost Zbikowski and Nakamura, and then drafted Christian Thompson as a hard hitting safety in the mold of Pollard. Perhaps they were on the fence about Pollard, but saw the chance to get a little cap relief last year by extending him and then see how they felt about their depth chart at the end of 2012.
It's kind of like Reed in Houston. Does his three year contract mean the Texans believe he can be productive for three more seasons? Probably not.
I'm not dismissing entirely the idea that he was difficult in the locker room. But the Ravens usually give themselves options A, B, C and D when it comes to the roster.
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I think it's a combination of ability, salary and locker room issues.
I've always been one of the guys that thought Pollard was a solid safety, but not much more. IMHO, reveling in a guys flashy hard hits is like trying to make a case that an NBA center is a really good defender due to flashy blocks.
Calling it a "Mutiny" is overkill, but I also think there were and are locker room issues with him...nobody that has his salary and is as good as some like to make him out to be has 4 different teams before he's 29.
I think it's just a combination of things...and unlike a guy like Reed, Pollard isn't/wasn't good enough to "get away" with whatever the issues were.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HDAlthough Walsh's system of offense can compensate for lack of talent; however, defense is a different story. According to Walsh, talent on defense was essential and could not be compensated for. What did Walsh do in 1981? He acquired physical and talented players on defense.
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04-01-2013, 04:20 PM #34Regular 1st Stringer
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Re: Bernard Pollard responds
Sore and you? Who has to live with this underrated special teams coach for how many years.
LOL still believe the owner asked Harbaugh to can him, sigh.
How many owners has asked his HC to can his OC with a 9-5 record? As I recall this is the first time it ever happend, that late in the season.
John Harbaugh would be a very rich man if he was let go.. even at 9-7, and no POs and SB.
My take.. a combination of lack of performence on offense, not healthy chemestry - especially Joe-Cam, possible others things happend but hardly from Joe, Steve or Ozzie.
Come on Caldwell with no playcalling experience was not a sure thing succes.
Again we have this underrated special teams coach who has no clue. Nope not buying it.. our players is not that talented that they can win so many games year in year out despite a horrible HC.
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04-01-2013, 04:31 PM #35
Re: Bernard Pollard responds
Great word for speculating, and that's what just about everything is in this thread - all speculation. Unfortunately, some people take speculation and run with at and before you know it, it somehow morphs into gospel truth.
I'm more apt to side with the view that Shas put in that long post above. Good reading right there.
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04-01-2013, 04:43 PM #36
Re: Bernard Pollard responds
I don't know why he was released, and I know he wasn't the best in coverage, but he was my favorite player to watch on the D last year. I hope whoever replaces him, watches and learns Pollard's punch technique. Every time I seen him go to make a tackle, he punched the ball. He cause quite a few fumbles and I hope we can continue doing that with his replacement.
::Flacco Superstar::
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