UGA’s David Pollack Elected to College Football Hall of Fame

If you’ve ever flipped the channel to ESPN’s College GameDay or NFL Thursday Night Football, you’ve likely seen David Pollack give insightful commentary as a college football analyst or just having fun recreating Odell Beckham catches. Google his name and you’ll find Pollack was more than just a former college football player. He was the best defensive player in University of Georgia Bulldogs history.

Herschel Walker is undoubtedly the greatest offensive player to ever don the red and black thanks to an incredible rushing career. Pollack’s name would carry the same weight had he not suffered a broken vertebrae in the second game (against the Cleveland Browns) of his second season with the Cincinnati Bengals that ended his playing career.

From the minute Pollack stepped inside UGA's Sanford Stadium for Mark Richt’s squad, the defensive end and linebacker was an instant force to be reckoned with. NCAA quarterbacks feared for their lives when he shoved his way past offensive linemen.

A three-time First-Team All-SEC selection and three-time First-Team All-American, Pollack wreaked havoc on opposing SEC quarterbacks. The 6-foot-2, 255-pound defender totaled 36 sacks over his illustrious career in Athens, which still stands as a school record.

A play of Pollack stripping South Carolina quarterback Corey Jenkins in the end zone for a fumble and touchdown in 2002 sums up just how athletic and instinctive he was.

Defensive end David Pollack’s long list of awards and honors also included two-time SEC Player of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year (2004), Chuck Bednarik Award (2004), Lott Trophy (2004), Rotary Lombardi Award (2004) and two-time Ted Hendricks Award.

Only two Georgia Football players have ever earned All-American honors three times: Pollack and Walker.

He was announced as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020 alongside former collegiate stars like Florida’s Lomas Brown, Nebraska’s Eric Crouch, SMU’s Eric Dickerson, LSU’s Glenn Dorsey, Alabama’s E.J. Junior, Alcorn State’s Steve McNair, and several other inductees.

Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Pollack became a three-sport star athlete at Shiloh High School in Snellville, Georgia. He was also named a Class 5A All-State selection as a senior.

The Bengals selected Pollack in the first round (17th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft and he played in 14 games his rookie season before suffering the aforementioned injury in 2006.

Now you can find Pollack all over ESPN, including on SportsCenter. He first began as an analyst with CBS in 2008 but joined the Thursday Night Football team alongside Jesse Palmer, Rece Davis and Samantha Ponder in 2012. You can also find him firing off tweets on his impressive social media account that has hundreds of thousands of followers.

But the former Georgia Bulldogs linebacker should forever be remembered for his bone-crushing play and incredible accomplishments as one of the greatest Georgia football players of all time. And now, a College Football Hall of Famer.

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