Bernard Pollard Prefers To Be Treated As A Grown Man

Via PFT: Texans safety Bernard Pollard, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, says that he didn’t appreciate how he was treated by Chiefs coaches. This, of course, is a theme as common as the day is long, but Pollard isn’t broadcasting such common tropes as, “I wasn’t given enough playing time,” or, “the coaches didn’t know what they were doing. This is a little different, and it makes some sense to me.

↵↵“With professional athletes, you’re dealing with grown men. You’re not dealing with boys,” Pollard said. “You’re not in a locker room with sophomores in high school. You’re dealing with grown men with families. I have a wife. I have a son. And I have a daughter on the way. I’m not going to sit there and let you curse me out when you feel like cursing me out or talk to me any way you want to talk to me, and you just want me to sit and take it and say, ‘Yes, coach.’

↵↵Of course, this is the NFL’s culture. The common perception is that it’s acceptable for a coach to berate his players as much as he sees fit, and that it’s the player’s responsibility to sit back and take it. But should it be? I sympathize with Pollard, after all. The millionaire football player’s job description specifies a multitude of duties, none of which are to allow a coach to speak to you like you’re a flippant, wayward teenager who needs a healthy dose of discipline. Like Pollard, I would probably sit back and take it if I had to, but his misgivings should be easy to understand nonetheless.