Ex-ESPN Star David Pollack Asks for ‘Prayers’ as Wife Battles Brain Cancer

Martin Holmes March 11, 2025, 10:00 am

David and Lindsey Pollack — Lindsey Pollack Facebook

Former ESPN anchor David Pollack asked for “prayers” on Monday (March 10) as his wife, Lindsey Pollack, prepares to undergo brain cancer surgery.

“I do not share much of my personal life on social media but today is gonna be different,” David wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “If you are the praying type please lift up my wife Lindsey. She has brain cancer and surgery is Wednesday at Duke.”

“So thankful to serve a loving God that meets us in our struggles!” he added.

David and Lindsey share two children: a son, Nicholas, who is a junior in high school, and a daughter, Leah, who is a high school sophomore.

Before serving as ESPN’s college football analyst from 2011 to 2023, David was a linebacker who played college football for the University of Georgia, where he was a three-time All-American. He was a first-round pick in the 2005 NFL draft, joining the Cincinnati Bengals. In the second game of his second season with the Bengals, David suffered a serious neck injury that ended his on-field career.

Lindsey Pollack Facebook

After his playing career was cut short, David transitioned into TV sports anchoring, serving as an afternoon sports talk host on Atlanta’s 790 The Zone and providing studio coverage of college football for CBS. He moved to ESPN in 2009 and, in the fall of 2011, became part of the network’s College GameDay and a host on the Palmer and Pollack show.

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In 2012, he replaced Craig James on ESPN’s Thursday Night Football, joining Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and Samantha Ponder. That same year, he caused controversy by saying women shouldn’t be allowed to serve on the College Football Playoff selection committee because they had not played the game.

The network laid him off on June 30, 2023, due to cost-cutting.

Speaking of his firing on Jason Whitlock’s Fearless podcast in October 2024, David said (per The Daily Mail), “I’ve been very thankful that I’ve been fired. It’s opened up me to be able to talk about whatever the subject is in a truthful manner.”

He went on to say ESPN gave him the impression his views on social media could affect his position, adding, “I’m not saying they always said that to me, but it was very clear, like, ‘Your opinions you post on social media, while they are yours, they also represent us. So, we are taking that into account.'”

After leaving ESPN, David and Lindsey helped launch The Pollack Family Foundation, an organization aimed at “empowering families” in the greater Atlanta area.