Getty ImagesPlaying a football game with a cracked rib is difficult enough. Playing with six cracked ribs is incredible (albeit possibly crazy).
Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard did just that in helping the Ravens take home their second Vince Lombardi trophy on Sunday.
According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, Pollard initially suffered the injury in the Ravens Week 2 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and aggravated the injury in Week 14 against the Washington Redskins. The latter caused him to miss the Ravens final three games of the regular season before returning for the playoffs.
With the season over, Pollard finally disclosed the extent of the injury. Pollard had two tackles in the Ravens 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
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Pollard over these last two seasons has become one of my favorite Ravens. Dude plays like a Raven and makes people think twice about going head up with him. Funny how we acquire 3 former Texans (Pollard, Leach, & Jacoby Jones) and they are key pieces to this Super Bowl winning team. Cheers
Dude is a warrior. Call him dirty if you want to, man lays the wood. I think Ridley just woke up
While that is to be commended, Pollard is a cheap shot artist at best.
One of the toughest SOB’s in the game.
benard pollard.. tougher than you
No wonder he was so cranky all the time.
How do you aggravate “cracked ribs”? Did he fracture them again or was the damage really to the cartilage surrounding the ribs and not the ribs themselves? Sounds fishy to me…
Him and Ray Ray must be on the same regimen, oh deEr.
So what. Guys like Titus Young are really sacrificing and playing with a lack of field time. Broken ribs….. Big deal.
This guy is a beast.
It’s amazing the type of pain these athletes play through!
Dude is an absolute monster.
Boss.
STUD! Great year! Unsung hero! The hit in NE changed the game significantly! Coming from a Seahawks fan!
It only hurts when you laugh.
Figured he cracked them from the impact of knocking Ridley into 2015.
I’m a Pats fan but even I can appreciate a big hit by a tough player.
And he had 18 good ones….what’s your point ?
No wonder he was worried about a player DYING on the field. I have to admire his toughness. Great player.
Being a die hard Chiefs fan I still miss this guy, although if he would’nt have blasted Brady a few yrs back and ended his season in game one the Chiefs would’nt have ended up with Cassel. But he is one bad A@# player…he plays football like a hockey player…what injury. And im sure as soon as he retires he will sue the nfl for playing with broken ribs, im sure the commish loves hearing this.
It’s amazing what narcotics and ketorolac can do.
Six cracked ribs? No problem. Torn bicep? Sure. Elbow to the noggin? Lawsuit!!
I really do not like Pollard… I don’t like what he says off the field and I don’t like many of the hits that have caused injuries, specfically ones to the Patriots. That said, he is a tough S.O.B. and if he were on the Patriots I would probably like it. You always hate the good players on the good teams that you don’t cheer for.
i dont believe that for a second.week 14 to the super bowl is eight weeks.plenty of time to mend cracked ribs.
People can say he’s a dirty player but this guy plays hard with passion and love for the game , glad to see him win a Super Bowl , major props for gutting it out
all this is, is a sign his career is near over. when your ribs are cracking like that its a sign of bad health.
couldn’t have happened to a better player.
I wonder how many perscription pain killers a team doctor hands out in a full season? Its probably not a low number….
I call BS. Another guy trying to get media attention. The new ray lewis.
If you actually watch him try to tackle, it appears that he plays with no arms as well.
He just needs some blood from a Patriot player to get better. He feeds on them.
I can’t imagine doing anything physical with 1 cracked rib let alone six. Not only that but playing NFL football and practicing week after week? Wow.
Guess team & team doctors aren’t concerned for player safety.
That’s nothing…Ray Ray played with two dead bodies under his belt.
Looks like Suggs and Lewis had to share the deer spray.
So the whiniest coach in the league got his ring. Maybe now he will act with a little class.
This guy is crazy.. but any team would love to have him. He just lights people up when he makes good contact, I swear he’s injured Brady, Gronk, Welker and Ridley? PATRIOT KILLER!!!
This explains why Pollard was so much less of a physical force than what he customarily brings to the party. His tepid “non-factor” missed tackle on Crabtree’s 31 yard TD reception seemed so unlike Pollard. If the man has a half dozen cracked bars on his cage, he definitely gets a pass – and can wear his hardware with pride. That is nutting up.
I still don’t know why Ed Reed played like he had 17 cracked ribs. Not since Deion “Business Decision” Sanders have I seen an athlete shy away from contact the way Reed did, repeatedly on Sunday. Check the same play with Crabtree’s touchdown – where #20 runs up to get in position to make a tackle and shies away. Reed sprinted up to make a play on Kaepernick, but backed off too. C’mon man.
That is hard to believe,I currently am suffering from bruised ribs and they feel like they are broke,hard to move or do anything.he must have played on some super painkillers or else it wouldnt have been possible.
That guy is a football player.
Big deal! Squirrel dance boy played with 2 murders and judging by the way he played he looked like god took away his ability for that double murder!
Still choked that the Chiefs released him. Thanks again Pioli
I’m sure he was just joking..haha..I have cracked ribs!
He gets over-shadowed by Ed Reed, but Pollard is a tremendous player in his own right.
I’ll tell you this, he is feared in New England.
Maybe they healed up from chuggin’ Reverend Ray-Ray’s deer antler juice?
BP (Bringing Pain): one hell of a football player and glad he came to B-more!!!!!!
what a monster
Exhibit A on the way we treat QB’s like children and expect less of them in toughness. If another position player plays hurt, he is a warrior (and receives appropriate praise) But if a QB were to play through this, might we accuse him of being stupid or endangering his career?
Chalk up one more miraculous healing that went faster than usual… I wonder how they heel so much faster in Baltimore than any where else….
Way to suck it up and get the job done bonecrusher! This guy and Boldin are two tough dudes. They know what it means to play like a Raven.
Pollard is a beast. I love watching him clobber patriots.
So don’t sue the NFL after you retire. You have disclosed that you knew you were playing with cracked ribs.
I think Ridley may have had some cracked ribs. Oh wait..Ragdolls don’t have any ribs.
G Status there.
Where’s the supporting proof? From the arcticle it sounds like only Pollard says so. Show his x-rays and I will believe it. I know lot’s of people who say they did this or that with broken ribs, when the truth is they were MAYBE bruised. Broken ribs are no joke. It hurts like heck just to cough and you can puncher a lung. This sounds embellished.
another great move by Scott Pioli!
Tough dude, but having said that…
What happened to the “full injury disclosure” that all NFL coaches are required to provide every week? Did Harbaugh lie?
Not sure when he’ll be a FA, but can we please sign this guy in New England? For starters, we need to keep him from taking out any more of our players and secondly, we need to add some toughness to our secondary.
Good one guy.. You really don’t have to lie to kick it.. Refs gave it to you my sons