Tomo Pollard gains part of his inspiration from art. “It gets me in a zone,” the 5’11″, 180-pound running back and cornerback from University City High School says. “Once I start working on a piece of art, it’s hard for me to stop. I want to finish it.” Pollard, in his fourth year in Delia Martin’s art program at UCHS, used acrylic to paint a trio of flowers that Martin chose, among other students’ pieces, to show at the San Diego County Fair last June. He would like to continue his painting in his college years, hopefully while playing football for a major college program “when I get bored.” Describing his method in creating art, Tomo says, “If I’m painting a rose, everything in my thought process has to do with it. I see a rose (in a picture); I think of patterns I can add to it, things I can put in it.” The senior, who addresses an interviewer as “sir” and makes eye contact, comes off as thoughtful and under control. For the first two football games this season, Pollard wasn’t inserted on offense in Coach Ryan Price’s program. He focused his energy on his cornerback position on defense.
In week three, he carried the ball once on offense for seven yards. Then, in week four, in a 59-0 rout of San Ysidro at home, the 17-year-old gained 104 yards rushing on only a pair of carries.
After a bye week, the fleet back not only rushed for 78 yards on an economical three carries in UC’s game at Francis Parker, he also ran back a kickoff in the second half 90 yards for a touchdown. The navy-Columbia-and-white won that contest, 56-14. He vividly recalls that electrifying runback. Parker had scored right after halftime. “I talked to my teammates,” he explained. “I said, ‘That’s not good. We have to do something about that.’ Grant Ruthenberg (a teammate) said, ‘I have a feeling.’” The speedster then took the ensuing kick to the house for six points.
Both productive games for Pollard were big victories for the Centurions, who won four of their five pre-league games as Price brings a new excitement to the football program in his first year as head coach after two years as an assistant. The Centurions (4-1) are in a heady position leading into Central League competition.
Pollard’s economy of rushing attempts while producing yardage carries over into his brush strokes. In a regular class period, he’s got only 58 minutes to break out his materials, get into his “zone” and begin painting before putting everything away again. Yet he says he generally finishes a subject in “two to three weeks,” despite, he laughs, arriving late sometimes. “Miss Martin comes over and tells me to put my things away” if he dawdles at the end of the period in wrapping things up before his next class.
“I’m in a category of my own in Advanced Drawing and Painting,” he says. “I’m taking Advanced Drawing and Painting for the second time” (he also took it as a junior after Art I and II in his freshman and sophomore years), “so Miss Martin has me working on different things.”
Besides Martin’s tutelage in the fine art, Tomo receives inspiration for sports from his big brother, Royce, 25, who starred at UCHS from 2005 to 2007, played wide receiver at the University of Hawaii then signed with the New York Jets in the NFL before being injured. “In the offseason, he works me out, trains me, motivates me to be better than I am,” says Pollard.
Royce tells his rapidly-developing baby brother, “Go get yours.” Tomo expands on what his brother means by that phrase: “Work hard enough, put in the time, see you reach your goals.”
Pollard doesn’t hesitate to name his brother as the big influence in his life. He’s also blossoming under Price’s leadership. Tomo has bought into his coach’s all-for-one, one-for-all mentality. He doesn’t just play his positions on defense, offense and special teams. “I like to promote encouragement on the playing field,” is the way he puts it. “I let (my teammates) know if they made a good play. I give them props.”
After 204 all-purpose yards in the win over Parker, with a whopping 31.5 yards per carry on offense after only three games at running back, Pollard has big dreams in football. He says he would like to play at Hawaii, like his brother, or Utah, “though they haven’t recruited me yet.” He hasn’t caught a pass yet, but the sky could be the limit after his quick progress running the ball.