Chiefs Coach Haley Talks Bernard Pollard

Quite possibly the biggest surprise of the 2009 Kansas City Chiefs season happened before the team even played a regular season game.

During the last round of cuts the Chiefs cut safety Bernard Pollard, who many believed would be the team’s unquestioned starter to open the season.

Instead, the Chiefs went with veteran Mike Brown and cut Pollard loose. The safety was quickly scooped up by the Texans and after sitting out the first three games of the season to learn his new defense, Pollard went off. He had his best season as a pro, racking up 102 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 4 interceptions despite only playing in 13 games.

More after the jump.

Thus it is no surprise that Chiefs coach Todd Haley is being asked about Pollard this week.

“The guys yesterday asked me over the phone about Bernard and I just said that it was one of those really tough decisions,” said Haley.” Mainly because I thought a lot of Bernard the from the minute I got in here and I felt like we established a relationship pretty quickly because he was one of those guys who was always in here, he was passionate, he is into football and he is into work.”

There were some reports of a verbal disagreement between Pollard and some of the Chiefs coaches last offseason that have led some to believe that the team cut Pollard to send a message to the rest of the players. Haley, however, said he like Pollard and is happy about his success in Houston.

“What I am most happy about is that Bernard has been able to get on with the Texans and it really looks like he is playing at a high level both last year and this year,” said Haley. “I think that is a really good thing because Bernard is a good guy and you like to see good things happen.”

Haley is certainly right that Pollard is playing at a high level. Through five games in 2010, Pollard already has 51 tackles. He is on pace to have about 163 tackles on the season.

While tackle stats can sometimes be misleading, it is proof that Pollard is all over the field.

What do you think Addicts? Are you worried about Pollard hurting the Chiefs on Sunday?