National Football League

Pollard to appear on 'The Amazing Race'

Published Sep. 22, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Marcus Pollard is adding one more line to his already amazing resume.

Reality star.

The former Colts tight end with a flair for making spectacular catches and will join his wife, Amani, on one of the teams in this season's CBS show ''The Amazing Race.''

''I never even thought I'd do something like this,'' he told The Associated Press on Thursday. ''It was different, a totally different experience than playing pro football.''

Pollard spent his college career playing basketball at Bradley, not football, then made the Colts as an undrafted rookie in 1995.

It was the start of a 14-year NFL career that kept him in Indianapolis for 10 seasons, Detroit for two and Seattle for one before wrapping up his career in Atlanta in 2008. He played just one game that last season.

Pollard and his family now live in Pine Mountain, Ga., about 45 miles from Georgia's capital city, where the former Colts' fan favorite now serves as the offensive coordinator of a local high school team.

Until now, though, he'd never done anything quite like this with his wife, a 36-year-old business owner and former athlete.

''I learned that my wife is really strong, not just physically but mentally,'' Pollard said. ''She's really stronger physically and mentally than I thought she would be.''

The network would not let Pollard say how many rounds he survived or which countries he visited because it could give away details of the upcoming season, which was taped during the summer. Sunday night's venue is Southern California.

The winning team receives $1 million, a prize Pollard said would be nice for anyone not named Donald Trump. He's not the only ex-athlete competing, either. Olympic snowboarders Andy Finch and Tommy Czeschin also comprise one of this season's teams.

Nor is he the first Colts player to take his act to the small screen.

Current Indy tight end Dallas Clark, one of Pollard's ex-teammates, made his acting debut in ''Criminal Minds'' in March.

''That's pretty cool to have two Colts tight ends appearing on some CBS affiliated programs. That's really cool,'' Pollard said, before making a plea for Peyton Manning to make his cameo. ''That's who we need to get.''

Pollard caught 349 passes for 4,280 yards and celebrated most of his 40 career touchdowns by using the crossbar as a basketball goal.

But as a fan of the show who made the cut for being a contestant, well, Pollard and his wife just couldn't say no.

The viewing party will be restricted to family and close friends.

''We thought it would be really special to have our closest friends and family watching something this special,'' he said. ''It's just going to be exclusive for us.''

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