Blair graduate plays football for Michigan

High school football players dream of playing Division-I college football and starring in nationally televised games.

One Blair graduate is making that dream come true.

Max Pollock of Blair's class of 2003 is a red shirted freshman playing football for the perennial powerhouse University of Michigan. Pollock was not recruited by Michigan, but was able to make the prestigious team as a walk-on. He was recruited by several of the Ivy League colleges and some smaller schools, but he chose Michigan because he always loved its football team and felt the school would provide him with a good education.

Playing for Michigan has been very hard work, but the pride of being on the team makes up for the physical struggles. "At the end of the day playing for Michigan is the most amazing thing," said Pollock.

Pollock was shocked with the speed of the college game. "All the other players were a lot bigger, faster, stronger and know the game better," said Pollock.

This year the Michigan football team played in the prestigious Rose Bowl against the University of Southern California. Michigan unfortunately lost the game 28-14, but by making the Rose Bowl the team achieved one of their main goals for the season. Pollock says the team had been talking about playing in the Rose Bowl since the beginning of the season and finally getting to the Rose Bowl was the best feeling ever. However, losing the game was upsetting, as the team was unable to finish the season on a high note for the seniors.

Pollock finds that practicing with future NFL players and college football stars is unbelievable. "It is crazy seeing how good they are, but you just hope you will be there some day," said Pollock.

According to Pollock, the seniors and the stars do not interact very much with the freshmen, but this division forms in most teams. Pollock is used to this from his days at Blair when the seniors ignored him as a sophomore and as a senior he ignored the freshmen. "You put in your time as a freshman. All of us are doing it, so it is not so bad," said Pollock.

Division-I college athletes can be red shirted for a season which will not count towards their four years of eligibility, but the player is unable to participate in games. Teams often do this to allow freshmen an extra season to develop.

Next season Pollock will be eligible to play in games as he looses his red shirt status. He will have four more years to play at Michigan, where he is currently practicing as a linebacker and fullback. However Michigan's coaches tell him he will probably play special teams.

When Pollock starting playing football in his sophomore year of high school he never imagined he would be playing for a school like Michigan. Through running and weight lifting Pollock was able to improve his skills and take his game to the next level.

The Blair football coaches helped push Pollock and mentally prepare him for the college game. Pollock recommends that Blair athletes listen to their coaches because they know what they are doing.

Also, Pollock says that grades and academic performance is key to playing sports in college. He found that many of the freshmen at Michigan were more skilled than some players at Blair, but Michigan players had a better academic record. Pollock attributes his performance in high school to his ability to play in college. " Academics opened the door to play football," said Pollock.