Which safety's hit injured Tom Brady's left knee in the 2008 season opener?

Which safety’s hit injured Tom Brady’s left knee in the 2008 season opener? Bernard Pollard.

Bernard Pollard, then a safety for the Kansas City Chiefs, made the play that ended Brady’s 2008 season. During the Patriots’ season opener at Gillette Stadium, Pollard lunged toward Brady’s legs after being knocked down while attempting to sack him, and his helmet struck Brady’s left knee.

Brady suffered tears to both the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament. New England won the game 17–10, but Brady left in the first quarter and did not return. The injury ended his streak of 111 consecutive starts and required reconstructive surgery.

The play is sometimes remembered simply as a “hit” or sack, but Pollard did not deliberately deliver a conventional standing tackle. The contact happened as he fell and reached toward Brady. Brady returned in 2009, passing for 4,398 yards and 28 touchdowns while earning Comeback Player of the Year honors.