Tennessee Titans fans leaned over the blue padded wall at Nissan Stadium and took turns screaming his name.

Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony!

A woman with a blue Titans flag. A young boy with a football. A young girl with a mini helmet. A boy with a powder blue Oilers jersey.

They all wanted the attention of new Titans running back Tony Pollard.

They got it.

Pollard obliged requests for autographs and fist bumps and selfies for more than 20 minutes Saturday after a Titans open practice, part of the team's "Back Together Weekend."

Shadowing him most of the time was his girlfriend, Kania Taylor, and their 1- and 3-year-old daughters.

Pollard, who grew up a Titans fan in Memphis, feels at home in Nashville after signing a three-year, $21.75 million free agent contract in March. His professional career was born in Nashville, too, where the 2019 NFL Draft was held, and the Dallas Cowboys picked him in the fourth round.

"That definitely went into my decision making," he said. "Just being close to family, having games so close to home so I can have a good home crowd coming out to support. Just coming where I was wanted."

Pollard, who spent the past five seasons with the Cowboys, had just finished posing for pictures with his family in the end zone before he spoke.

Tony Pollard shows off, shows out

Fans at Nissan were screaming Pollard's name earlier Saturday, too.

Quarterback Will Levis acquainted Pollard's hands with the football 40-some yards downfield and watched him run another 33 yards to the end zone, causing fans to rise to their feet in salute of the feat. Pollard had snagged the ball away from cornerback Roger McCreary's reach.

They cheered again when his last-second block in the backfield allowed a scrambling Levis to find a receiver downfield.

"That's a little showcase of what Tony's capable of," first-year Titans coach Brian Callahan said. "He runs routes and catches the ball like a receiver. He runs the ball as good as any running back."

Pollard was a receiver during his senior season at Melrose High School. With the Memphis Tigers, his receiving yards outdid his rushing yards 1,292 to 941. He also tied an FBS record with seven kick-return touchdowns.

"I love being able to show all of my ability on the field," he said. "I was more natural, more comfortable at running back but I was always good at open field."

Pollard was signed to try to help fill the void left by Derrick Henry. Pollard's contract makes him the 10th-highest paid running back in terms of average per year.

A little help from his friends

With Henry gone to the Baltimore Ravens, the load of the Titans' backfield has been left to the legs and hands of Pollard and Tyjae Spears.

They are similar backs who both can run and catch the ball.

Pollard, who topped the 1,000-yard mark the past two seasons and was given the franchise tag by the Cowboys last season, is used to sharing responsibilities.

He shared a backfield with Ezekiel Elliott for four seasons, during which he accumulated 3,621 rushing yards to go with 23 touchdowns. He also caught 176 passes for 1,319 yards and five touchdowns.

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He shared time in the backfield with Darrell Henderson at Memphis, where Pollard is second all-time in all-purpose yards (4,860) and Henderson third (4,790).

How he and Spears will complement each other remains to be seen.

"That's a good question," Callahan said earlier during camp. "I think Tyjae's got a little bit different route-running ability. Tony, he's a smoother runner. They're both really explosive. Of all the groups that we have, I think those guys are the ones that are the most exciting for me."

Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina. Follow his work here.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why new Titans RB Tony Pollard feels right at home in Nashville