Michael David Pollak (born February 16, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

guard who played seven seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

in the second round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27 ...

. He played college football at Arizona State.

Early years

Pollak graduated Corona del Sol High School in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as s ...

, in 2003. While at Corona del Sol he played

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

and defensive tackle, and was regarded as a three-star recruit by '' Rivals.com''. He received many honors including All-Region honors from Prep Star, first-team All-Arizona by

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $ ...

and first-team All-City and All-Conference recognition as a senior. Pollak also was a star

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

receiving first-team All-Region, All-East Valley, and All-Conference.

College career

Pollak attended Arizona State from 2003-2007. Pollak was a starter at center during his junior and senior year. In 2006, he received All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Conference second-team and in 2007 he received first-team All-Pac-10 Conference honors. During his senior year, he was a finalist for the

Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National Coll ...

, which is awarded to the nations top center. In 2007, he received the Tim Landers Iron Man Award, Cecil Bono Team Captain Award, and

Pat Tillman Patrick Daniel Tillman Jr. (November 6, 1976 – April 22, 2004) was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) who left his sports career and enlisted in the United States Army in May 2002 in the afterm ...

Award, all awards given out by the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of ...

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Pollak was drafted by the

in the second round of the

. The Colts moved Pollak to guard and as a rookie he started 13 of 13 games. In 2009, Pollak entered as the starter at right guard.

Carolina Panthers

Pollak signed with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

on March 22, 2012.

Cincinnati Bengals

Pollak signed with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

on April 12, 2013. On March 7, 2014, Pollak re-signed with the Bengals on a three-year contract. The Bengals released him on February 20, 2015.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bioCarolina Panthers bioIndianapolis Colts bioArizona State Sun Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollak, Mike 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Tempe, Arizona Players of American football from Maricopa County, Arizona American football centers American football offensive guards Arizona State Sun Devils football players Carolina Panthers players Cincinnati Bengals players Indianapolis Colts players