Photo: David Pollock speaks with Lee Pierce of the DeSoto County FCA Leadership Board during the 11th annual fundraiser breakfast at the Landers Center in Southaven. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
The Northwest Mississippi Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Wednesday morning heard David Pollock, a former college and NFL football player turned analyst, tell about 1,000 people to “live a different life.”
“The most important thing about all of us with our faith is living a life that somebody looks at and says, ‘that’s different,’” Pollock said. “How you live your life will do more for the Kingdom of God than what you know, and it’s so important for all of us.”
This year’s featured speaker was a three-year all-SEC and all-American linebacker for the Georgia Bulldogs under coach Mark Richt, who went on a two-year pro career with the Cincinnati Bengals.
It was a career that had Pollock starting in the sixth game of his rookie season and ending early in his second season when he broke two cervical vertebrae. He would retire soon after the season ended in 2007, but calls it “the best day of his life.”
In his question-and-answer session with DeSoto County FCA Leadership Board member Lee Pierce, Pollock talked about his journey of faith, beginning with an invitation to a lockout as a teenager, beginning to read the Bible, and later his relationship with his college football coach.
Pollock said FCA was very important to him because, as he said, “They came to us.”
After his football career ended, Pollock turned to broadcasting, first with a sports radio station in Atlanta, then studio work for CBS, eventually becoming part of ESPN’s College Gameday program.
During that part of Pollock’s career, in 2013, harsh criticism came out about his views against women being on the Playoff Selection Committee. He believed that, because Pollock said female members on the committee had not played the game.
Seven years later, Pollock was let go from ESPN as a cost-savings measure, but he still covers college football with his David Pollock College Football YouTube channel. He and his wife also lead the Pollock Family Foundation, which works to empower families in Athens, Georgia and the greater Atlanta communities, encouraging faith, family and community.
“This is an eternal impact and a legacy,” Pollock said about supporting FCA. “Legacy is not what you leave someone, it’s what you leave in someone. “We have an opportunity to support other people who are going to be the hands and feet of Jesus at a great level and on their level.”
Brooke Kicker and Reese McCoy. Coach Bob Patterson Scholarship winners.
Two students were selected as winners of the Coach Bob Patterson Scholarship Award. Brooke Kicker of Hernando and Reese McCoy of Northpoint Christian School each received a $1,000 scholarship in a program supported by Cadence Bank. Executives from Cadence Bank serve on a selection committee for the award.
Kicker is a senior at Hernando who plays tennis and last fall competed in cross country. McCoy is a senior at Northpoint who plays soccer. Both are active in living out their faith in different ways at their schools and churches.
From left, Barry Wilson of FCA, along coaches Dustin Hectorne, John Jarnigan and Dominick Carlini.
Coaches who are involved with FCA through “huddles” also spoke about what FCA meant to them and their programs. Horn Lake’s Dustin Hectorne, Dominic Carlini of Northwest Community College, and John Jarigan of Southaven spoke with Barry Wilson of FCA.
The breakfast program also had 15 different students step up and provide what was called short “20 second testimonies,” ending with the question, “Do you have a story like mine?”
