Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard was born on January 27, 1894 in Chicago. [6], As a junior, even though he shared the backfield with Darrell Henderson, he totaled 78 carries for 552 yards (7.1-yard avg. Its a safe bet that Elliotts numbers will go up, and that he will eventually get so many more chances than Pollard that he will pass him in yards. Many credit Pollard and Jim Thorpe with saving the fledgling league as it struggled to compete with baseball and boxing. Flores suit came afterthe New York Giants hiredBrian Daboll over him as head coach. He was born Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. Coming out of the Reconstruction era which followed the American Civil War, the Pollards wanted to live free from the racial oppression of segregation laws in the south and had moved from Oklahoma in 1886. Pollard was at the time just the sixth black pro-football player in an era when lynchings of black men by white mobs were almost a daily occurrence. "He wantedto see anotherhe wanted to seemany African American coaches.". Then they leapt from their chairs, grabbed the waiter and proceeded to artistically maul him until he consented to wait on Pollard. By February 1933, there had been 13 black players in the NFL. ", Fritz III recalls: "You could see all the reporters going 'who's Fritz Pollard?' He is closing in on 1,700 runs and receptions while just starting his sixth season. Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. The No. He became their player-coach the following season. "He's the one that taught everybody how to barbeque.". [26] During the 2022-23 NFC divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, Pollard suffered a high ankle sprain and fractured fibula in the second quarter when 49ers defensive back Jimmie Ward landed on his ankle while making the tackle. Pollard had a subpar game in a 140 defeat to Washington State, but he became the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl game. I will not have that," she says. He called the team Redskins in 1933, a racial slur that was only. Newspaper articles at the time, who described Pollard as a "colored" coach, praised his stellar football IQ. A century later, some say his coaching experience in the league mirrors today's NFL. His brother Terrion now carries on the family tradition, working with his dad at Pollard's. "I kind of love it. During high school Pollard was actually a better baseball player, but he knew he wouldn't be able to progress. [8], Pollard criticized Lincoln's administration, saying they had hampered his ability to coach and had refused to provide adequate travel accommodations for the team. Imagine NFL stars of today like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson having to arrive moments before kick-off and being driven on to the field. [5] He led the nation with a school-record 40-yard average per kickoff return (22 for 881 yards) and four returns for touchdowns. Academic difficulties meant Pollard's college career was cut short. Eventually the hotel relented. The Pollard family will now have to switch to Cowboys fans now that they have family ties with the team. In 1920, with Pollard leading the team, the Pros went undefeated (8-0-3) to win the league's first championship. Halas is a name rightfully synonymous with the founding of the NFL. ProFootballHistory.com. He subsequently became the first black running back to ever be selected for the All-American team. Pollard was wickedly smart and, while playing halfback at Brown as the school's first Black player, he majored in chemistry, earning almost all As. So that played a big part too. It doesn't force any teamto hire a Black head coach. "But I'm not," he said. "In making the decision to file the (complaint), I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me. The Pollards have been Barbequing for four generations. Pollard underwent surgery. Get the latest news. At Brown, Pollard led the Bears to their first and only Rose Bowl appearance. He managed the Suntan Movie Studio in Harlem. He founded a newspaper, and set up an investment fund and a company trading coal. Segregation laws had been abolished in the northern states, but with many southerners migrating for work in the rubber factories of Ohio and the coal mines of Pennsylvania, he continued to experience racial discrimination almost everywhere he played. Pollard got all of 13 carries and turned it into 109 yards, his second biggest day as a pro. Yet the next summer Denver held quarterback meetings without him and he asked to be released. The rule now applies to general managers and co-ordinators too. The banwas made official in 1934 at the height of the Great Depression when NFL team owners agreed to forbid any Black players in the league. Briscoe passed for 14 touchdowns in 1968 - still a Denver Broncos record for a rookie. The following year Pollard was the star player for the Akron Pros, who won the first NFL championship. "Oh yes," said Towns. Who could blame him? He touched the ball on 16 of his 21 snaps Sunday. He can pad his totals with long runs that Elliott really hasnt been able to accumulate since he burst on the scene as the 2016 rushing champion. With the US in the depths of the Great Depression and millions of white people unemployed, he argued that paying black men to play football would be bad for business. "The first was Fritz Pollard. "The narrative we are dealing with here is very close to the narrative FritzPollard dealtwith 100 years ago.". Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. One of his team-mates, Irving Fraser, later told Pollard's biographer Jay Berry: "When he was tackled, they'd all pile on him and see if they could make him quit. Surrounded by family and BBQ. "Now it's a healthy engagement, an exchange of ideas and not always agreement, but overall it's a working relationship with open lines of communication.". [16] During Week 15 against the Los Angeles Rams, Pollard finished with 131 rushing yards on 12 attempts, including a 44-yard touchdown as the Cowboys won 4421. They believe that Black head coaches are not fit to be leaders of men.". IE 11 is not supported. There have been 24 in total, with three currently among the 32 teams, despite about 70% of NFL players being from ethnic minorities. Pollard's family grew up Pittsburgh Steelers fans, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Gibbons went on to describe an incident that happened atan Akron restaurant as Pollard sat with a group of teammates. That'sjust the way the times were back then," Pollard would say. Frederick "Fritz" Pollard saw what the world was like in the 1890s and the 1980s. Fritz Pollard blazed a trail as the first Black coach in the NFL. My father had taught me that I was too big to be humiliated by prejudiced whites. For this reason the FPA has in recent years been vocal in flagging potential violations of the rule while seeking to enhance it. "(I) didnt get mad and want tofight them. Yet, through it all, Pollard held his head high and helped lead Brown to the Rose Bowl against Washington State in 1916. This article is about the football pioneer. When the Los Angeles Raiders hired Art Shell as head coach in 1989, he was asked in a live broadcast how it felt to be the NFL's first black coach. Pollard was carted to the X-ray room with an air cast on his leg. "The big contrast now is absolutely how crazy big the NFL is as a business, billions and billions of dollars," he said. As he walked on, he wouldheartaunts shouted from the stands. Pollard coached Lincoln University's football team in Oxford, Pennsylvania during the 1918 to 1920 seasons [4] and served as athletic director of the school's World War I era Students' Army Training Corps. But Pollard appears more likely for several reasons. He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft . 0:00. At one game, a competitor started mocking Pollard's curly hair. And here I was, playing and coaching and pulling down the highest salary in pro football. Fritz Pollard Jr suffered from Alzheimer's during the final years of his life, but just before he died there was a moment of clarity. His three older brothers all played the game and felt black players could do well - if they adhered to an unwritten code of conduct. And, his grandson said, 100 years after Pollard coached in the NFL and 36 years after his death, he is sure Pollard would have wanted more from the league he helped build. I never saw him angry.". "I, myself, bought and paid $200 out of my pocket for football shoes for the team." A year ago when Pollard averaged 4.3 to Zeke's 4.0, and when Pollard got a late-season start against San Francisco and ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries, it was because the . What also helped build momentum was an advocacy group formed in 2003 that champions diversity and the hiring of NFL coaches, scouts and front-office staff from minority backgrounds. Pollard was born on Feb. 18, 1915, in Springfield, Mass. Tony isn't the only Pollard living his dream. "Crack Lincoln University Team Coached by Fritz Pollard". In 1921, Pollard was made player-coach and finished as the league's top scorer. Pollard became the second African-American in the College Hall of Fame in 1954. Reasons and Patrick, "Pollard Set Records as Black Football Player, Coach". In the 1930s, Pollard founded his own professional football team, the Brown Bombers. And that is that the running back with the $1 million cap hit gobbles up yards faster than the one with the $6.8 million cap hit (a figured reduced by converting part of Elliotts guaranteed $50 million deal to a restructure bonus). In his second, he faced future Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe. He left Memphis as one of the most accomplish kick returners in NCAA history. Pollard. For Meredith, who teaches children aged three to eight, Pollard's legacy has a power stretching beyond family and football. In Akron, Pollard became the first black head coach and quarterback in the NFL and the most vocal advocate for black players in the formative years of the league. "They threw rocks at me and called me all kinds of names. Im wondering what it will be this week after Elliott was good against the Chargers and Pollard was great. [2], Pollard accepted a football scholarship from the University of Memphis. On those eight touches, Pollard has totaled 113 yards (14.1 per . American football was different. "Sometimes they would just pick him up, take him to camp and wouldn't ask for a dime," Torria said. He was a theater agent, booking African-Americans in clubs across New York City. They lost the game through lack of rest." There are twoBlack head coachesin the NFL in 2022. Fritz III gave his permission to name it the Fritz Pollard Alliance (FPA). They were the suburb's only black family. All eight of the Pollard children graduated from high school and excelled at athletics or music. It was the best game I'd ever seen.". He finished with 101 carries for 435 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to go along with 28 receptions for 193 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. That's how good the 5-9 Pollard was. Pollard wouldn't have to dodge the spotlight for long. Lets just make sure no one ever wrings their hands about Pollard taking carries away from Zeke. For decades the team owners claimed there was no unwritten agreement. [2] He was the first African American football player at Brown. Its also possibly his way of talking around what seems to be a delicate situation. He later worked as a tax and public relations consultant. Still, many were motivated to see them by the opportunity for abuse. [25] In Week 11, Pollard had 80 rushing yards, and six catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-3 win over the Vikings, earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. The Dallas Cowboys selectedTony Pollard in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Pollard himself was now in the factory town of Akron, Ohio. ", Glittering drama based on the audacious Brinks-Mat security depot heist, A corrupt copper and a Leeds gangster are bound together by decades of dishonesty. Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves and say, 'Is this real?
