Bernard Pollard and Tom Brady aren’t exactly simpatico. It was Pollard who ended Brady’s 2008 season with a Week One shot to the knee, and Pollard and Brady have clashed in other games as well.
But when it comes down to Brady vs. Roger Goodell, Pollard takes Brady’s side.
“I do not like Tom Brady as a competitor, somebody that’s playing against him because he is a competitive player. I respect the piss out of him because the guy knows how to win. The guy, you can say whatever you want about him, but he is a true champion,” Pollard said on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
Pollard says he suspects that other quarterbacks have thrown deflated footballs and just haven’t been caught, and Pollard doesn’t believe a four-game suspension is appropriate.
“Do I feel that he should be suspended four games? I’m going to tell you, no,” he said. “This dude is a competitor, man. I don’t think he should’ve been suspended for four games. But I’m not the commissioner, I’m not on that committee that suspended him, and I know he’s going to fight tooth and nail like he does on the field to get back on the field with his team.”
Brady isn’t done fighting to get back on the field. And even some of the opponents who don’t like him are rooting for him to win his fight against Goodell.