ALLEN PARK -- The little things in life make moving on so interesting. One day, you're whisked from your comfort level to a new environment, where you have to ask directions to the nearest coffee shop.

Marcus Pollard has been settled into his new environment for two months.

Not bad considering he was looking for a new team not too long ago. He didn't have much trouble hooking up with another team when the reality of pro football economics squeezed him out of his job after 10 seasons in Indianapolis.

The Lions needed stability and production at tight end to go with their youth movement on offense, and they felt Pollard could provide that when they signed him as a free agent March 7. One swipe of the pen and Pollard was a Lion.

It was time for Pollard to move on with his wife, Amani, and two sons, Myles and Micah.

There would be new teammates, new coaches and a new playbook to learn in Detroit. The hardest part wasn't leaving Indianapolis. It was getting comfortable in new surroundings.

"I think it's just going somewhere," Pollard said after a morning workout at the Lions' practice facility. "That's been the hardest thing for us. I was telling my wife, it's the moving. Having to find another place to live -- moving your stuff.

"But I think on top of that, being in Indy for so long, a lot of connections I'd made for restaurants -- I could call. It kind of became a convenience. The little things. Parking spaces. If I went to a Pacers game, I had a prime-time spot I could get.

"Little things like that. I'm going to have to start all over again."

There's a little dust-up in the NBA playoffs. The Pistons-Pacers series has become a heated rivalry.

Pollard is a huge basketball fan. He attended Monday night's game and plans on being at The Palace tonight for Game 2. Did he bring his loyalties with him, or has he been converted to a Pistons fan?

"I'm going to just be a basketball fan, first and foremost," he said, laughing. "Some of my friends called from Indy to see if I was going. I thought about wearing a Pacers T-shirt and a Pistons hat. That would be a cop-out."

Pollard doesn't mind the minor nuisances and conflicts that developed from changing teams. Where it counts most -- playing football -- there is no conflict.

Pollard built a career and a respected position with the Colts from nothing. Pollard played power forward on Bradley's basketball team and hadn't played football since his high schools days in Alabama.

After his senior season in 1994, Pollard got a free-agent tryout with the Colts in training camp. He weighed 215 pounds, some 35 less than his current playing weight. The Colts' scouts and coaching staff liked his raw athletic ability but felt he wasn't close enough to being pro material. Pollard was released but was told to keep working and to come back the next year.

Pollard got a job working in maintenance at an Indianapolis health club. He worked eight hours a day and trained six days a week. The Colts re-signed him in February 1995 to get him involved in their offseason program. Pollard got no signing bonus, or even a weekly workout stipend teams commonly pay to players as an incentive for them to participate in team-sponsored workout programs.

Pollard had to prove to his new teammates he was more than a curiosity.

"I didn't fit in," Pollard said. "Everyone told me I was just a basketball player. I actually got in a fight in the first week of working out with the team.

"I said, 'I may as well stand up and show these guys I'm not just a basketball player. I'm going to be a football player. I'm not going be a pushover for you guys. I'm here to be a football player. I'm here to work.' I never had any more problems."

That started a slow, steady climb to an important spot in one of the most dynamic offenses in NFL history.

In 1998, when the Colts drafted a young quarterback named Peyton Manning, Pollard became a full-time starter. Pollard's role grew steadily as Manning developed into a dominating quarterback, with a brilliant cast around him.

Manning set the NFL's season record with 49 touchdown passes in 2004. Pollard caught 29 passes in 13 games, six for touchdowns. Pollard was the third or fourth option in an offense that had Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley at receiver, Edgerrin James at tailback and Dallas Clark, a first-round draft pick in 2003, as the other tight end.

Overall with the Colts, Pollard caught 263 passes and scored 35 touchdowns.

Pollard knew he would be moving on after the 2004 season because the Colts were committed to re-signing some of their younger players. He had one year left on his contract when the Colts released him for salary-cap reasons.

Pollard's last game as a Colt was a playoff loss to the New England Patriots. The Patriots beat the Colts in the AFC championship game after the 2004 season. The Patriots were the Colts' nemesis.

"I don't eat New England clam chowder for that reason," Pollard said.

Pollard sees some similarities between the young Lions and the old Colts. The Lions are building their offense with Roy Williams, Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, Kevin Jones and Joey Harrington, all young players. The Colts' key pieces already are proven.

"To me, that's the only difference, it's not proven yet," Pollard said. "I tell Joey -- I've been telling him since I've been here -- 'Joey, we're on to something very special.' The back we've got in Kevin Jones is a marvel. We've got three talented receivers outside, and an offensive line that's intact.

"Joey's a great quarterback, in my opinion. He's going to be one of the good ones before it's all said and done. I really like his arm. And I just like his enthusiasm."

Of course, Pollard played with a quarterback in Indianapolis who might be ranked with the NFL's greats. He had a high regard for Manning.

"I mean, the best," Pollard said. "He would give the shirt off his back to you. To me, it's scary to have a guy with that much fame, that much money, that much power to be so down to earth. Just a guy.

"I could take him to Alabama, and he would fit in with everybody. He wouldn't feel like he needed any special treatment. He wouldn't need a fancy room. He could sleep on the floor."

http://www.detnews.com/2005/lions/05...G01-178360.htm