In 1920, with Pollard leading the team, the Pros went undefeated (8-0-3) to win the league's first championship. Pollard would probably recognize all of this as progress for both black people and the game, but chances are he would call on the NFL to do more to increase the number of black head coaches, front office executives and team owners. "Why?" I said 'No you're not, sit down.' The same players that shunned Pollard four months earlier were now bringing him food. "(I) didnt get mad and want tofight them. "Offensive co-ordinators tend to come from quarterbacks, and head coaches from offensive co-ordinators, so the pipeline is thin for African-Americans because of discrimination against black players in so-called 'thinking' positions.". When the team went to sign in at the hotel, the front desk refused Pollard. 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. Along with becoming the league's first African-American head coach, he also was its first. Jan 12, 2023. To settle who was the real champion, Halas reached out to Pollard to arrange a game between the Staleys and the Pros in Chicago. He didn't care to serve Fritz," Gibbons wrote. "Even if it helps just one person in the same situation as my great-grandfather, with the odds stacked against them, to persevere and make something of themselves, then it was worth it. Academic difficulties meant Pollard's college career was cut short. This wasn't the first time the team had encountered such prejudice. As his team returned from one game in Gilberton, the train's windows were shot out. "Hammond and Milwaukee were bad, but never as bad as Akron. Pollard continued to play and coach in the NFL until 1926. (Story), What Happened To Ed Hochuli? If someone can slug him without the referee seeing him, it is done. "He detests crowds and avoids the spotlight whenever possible," Gibbons wrote. As we head into the Super Bowl, here are 10 amazing facts on the incredible journey of Fritz Pollard, one of the first African-American players to play professional football and also the first to become a head coach. IE 11 is not supported. In 2022, with the Steelers' Mike Tomlin and recently-named Texans head coach Lovie Smith, that percentage is 6.3%. In 1916 Pollards outstanding play led Brown to a season of eight victories and one defeat, including wins over both Yale and Harvard. In his second, he faced future Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe. "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. When owners colluded to shut black players out of the league from 1934 to 1946, Pollard used the pages of a newspaper that he started after his retirement to press for change. That's 4.8%. "My grandfather started playing pro football in 1919. Fritz Pollard, the NFL's first African-American head coach, was a true pioneer of the sport. There have been500 head coaches in the NFL's history 24 of them have been Black. He was so swift and agile that even those who scoffed -- and worse -- at a Black player, couldn't help but cheer when he ran for three50-yard touchdowns in one game. And here I was, playing and coaching and pulling down the highest salary in pro football. Many credit Pollard and Jim Thorpe with saving the fledgling league as it struggled to compete with baseball and boxing. Marshall was an avowed segregationist who owned the Washington football franchise from its inception in 1932 to his death in 1969. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Pollard's BBQ is back open on Sundaysbut you better have your Cowboys gear on. January 26, 2023 11:18 am CT. Fritz III gave his permission to name it the Fritz Pollard Alliance (FPA). "Prior to the Hampton game, the team was compelled to go to Hampton by boat, sleeping on the decks and under portholes," he told a reporter. He left Memphis as one of the most accomplish kick returners in NCAA history. By February 1933, there had been 13 black players in the NFL. In the second quarter of the Cowboys-49ers divisional matchup, the Cowboys running back had his left ankle trapped underneath a . For decades the team owners claimed there was no unwritten agreement. And of the 12-year absence of blacks from the league from 1934 to 1946, Halas would say, Probably the game didnt have the appeal to black players at the time.. 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. At that time, black players were banned from the sport. NFL pioneer Fritz Pollard's life story more relevant than ever Published: Jun 17, 2020 at 05:18 PM Anthony Smith "Fritz Pollard: A Forgotten Man", directed and produced by NFL Network senior. The Yale supporters also turned 'Bye Bye Blackbird', a popular song of the day, into a racially abusive anthem. 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. At one game, a competitor started mocking Pollard's curly hair. Pollard became the second African-American in the College Hall of Fame in 1954. [3] He became the first African American running back to be named to Walter Camp's All-America team. I didnt go sniffing around hoping theyd accept me. After his playing career, he'd moved to New York with the Harlem Renaissance still in full swing and had become a talent agent, booking black entertainers for films and white nightclubs. As a player, coach and team owner, he was as important as any single figure in helping to put the league on a course to become the sprawling multibillion-dollar juggernaut that it is today. Flores suit came afterthe New York Giants hiredBrian Daboll over him as head coach. None of this is meant to discredit Elliott. Pollard was one of the first two along with Bobby Marshall African-Americans in the National Football League in 1920. Getty Images. [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. His brother Terrion now carries on the family tradition, working with his dad at Pollard's. "I kind of love it. [15] During Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins, Pollard posted his first career 100+-yard game as he finished with 103 rushing yards on 13 carries and a touchdown as the Cowboys won 316. [10] Just six days later, on January 17, 2019, Pollard was added to the 2019 North Senior Bowl roster. After escaping slavery, he had fought for the Union during the Civil War. ", "I will never tell a child again to sit down. If they think they can't do something or belittle themselves. It was one of many measures he'd take to avoid being targeted, verbally and physically, by fans and players alike, across the game's heartland of the American Northeast and Midwest. It was the first time a team had beaten them both in the same season, and Pollard won each game almost single-handedly. Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. His brother Terrion now carries on the family tradition, working with his dad at Pollard's. and three touchdowns. He also worked as director of an army YMCAand coached football at Lincoln University. "My dad was a single parent, and when he wasn't working all the hours he did it was phone call after phone call, meeting after meeting, trying to get my great-grandfather's name out there.". That achievement speaks volumes, because like Dallas, Memphis is known for some good BBQ. Teams would take kick-offs short, so that Pollard could be gang-tackled as soon as he received the ball. When he was tackled, he'd flip on to his back and pedal his feet in the air to stop opponents piling on to him. Fritz Pollard, byname of Frederick Douglass Pollard, Sr., (born January 27, 1894, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.died May 11, 1986, Silver Spring, Maryland), pioneering African American player and coach in American collegiate and professional gridiron football. My father had taught me that I was too big to be humiliated by prejudiced whites. It is remarkable to watch the hoops that people will jump through, the injuries they will risk to avoid stating the rather obvious fact that Tony Pollard is a better runner than Ezekiel Elliott. Now, the power of his legacy is growing through an organisation that bears his name. He became their player-coach the following season. But in the 1916 season, Brown beat Yale and Harvard on consecutive weekends. When Pollard played, the NFL was new, rough and tumble, a backyard type of experiment, said Towns. [24] In Week 8, against Chicago, Pollard had 13 carries for 141 yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 4929 win, and was named Ground Player of the Week. Pollard felt Halas held a personal grudge going back to when they were high school sports rivals in Chicago, and that he also played a prominent role in the ban being approved. He produced Rockin' the Blues[11] in 1956, which included such performers as Connie Carroll, The Harptones, The Five Miller Sisters, Pearl Woods,[12] Linda Hopkins, Elyce Roberts, The Hurricanes, and The Wanderers. His professional career was finally about to begin. Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves and say, 'Is this real? When he showed up for football practice that September, none of the players wanted him on the team. Get the latest news. Since this would be the second consecutive season on . There have been 24 in total, with three currently among the 32 teams, despite about 70% of NFL players being from ethnic minorities. American gridiron football player and coach Fritz Pollard helped pave the way for African Americans in the sport by becoming the first African American selected to a backfield position on Walter Camp's All-America team (1916) and, five years later, by becoming the first African American head coach of a National Football League . He became a tax consultant. Pollards has been recognized by the Travel Channel as 1 of 10 Memphis BBQ places to visit! Along with becoming the league's first African-American head coach, he also was its first African-American quarterback (1923) and first African-American to play on a championship team (1920). Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [4], As a sophomore, he posted 36 receptions for 536 yards (14.9-yard avg.) There was one Black head coach in the NFL in 1921. And they would state this as if it were simply true, end of story. He also went on to become the second Black player named to Walter Camp's All-American team. The rule is named for former Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who chaired the league's diversity committee. The final was 13-0 with Robeson scoring both touchdowns in his finest pro football performance. Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). "He always let his skills on the field, and his actions off it, define who he was. "It was a literal fight," she says. As he recalled the song in his final interview with Berry before his death in 1986, tears rolled down his cheek. He had two returns for touchdown and was named the American Athletic Conference's Special Teams Player of the Year. As ESPN's Bill Barnwell noted, Pollard has now touched the ball just eight times in his career after his 30th snap of a given game. The US summer of 1919 was known as the Red Summer. "Pollard's Orange and Blue Juggernaut Crushes Camp Dix". It was a German-immigrant part of town. When Pollard was a rookie in 2019 (and when it wasnt necessarily true), the difference between his 5.3 yards per carry and Zekes 4.5 that season was explained away along these lines and by quite a few different people: When Zeke is in the game, the defense puts eight men in the box. "I don't need to get hit every Sunday. It was the best game I'd ever seen.". "The big contrast now is absolutely how crazy big the NFL is as a business, billions and billions of dollars," he said. [18], Pollard continued his role as a backup to Ezekiel Elliott to go along with some kickoff return duties in the 2020 season. His white teammates had high respect for Pollard and often stuck up for him as he faced discrimination. A memorial for Marshall outside Washington's stadium was removed in June, along with all other references to him, after it was spray-painted with the words "change the name". I'd rather watch him do it.". He could do everything - he played on offence and defence. Fritz was gifted with speed and elusiveness but he was small. Your email address will not be published. He attended Albert G. Lane Manual Training High School in Chicago where he played football, baseballand ran track. [5] He led the nation with a school-record 40-yard average per kickoff return (22 for 881 yards) and four returns for touchdowns. "And it has been discouraging to see that in the last three hiring cycles of head coaches, things have not been much different. Racial disparity in the league's coaching ranks was brought to the forefront last week whenformer Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams, alleging racial discrimination in hiring practices. My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come.". Solomon said. Pollard, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, died in 1986. "You just lived with it. For this reason the FPA has in recent years been vocal in flagging potential violations of the rule while seeking to enhance it. Omissions? They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Yet he welcomed Pollard with a highly abusive racial slur, saying he was going to kill him. Pollard's family grew up Pittsburgh Steelers fans, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Then in November 1923, after switching teams, he played an entire game at quarterback for the Hammond Pros. 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. He founded the first African-American investment firm: F.D. Kansas CIty Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' touchdowns from his biggest games this season ahead of Sunday night's NFL Super Bowl against the. He wasn't just a star football player and coach. [7] In the 2018 Birmingham Bowl against Wake Forest, he recorded 318 all-purpose yards (209 on kickoff returns) and one rushing touchdown. The Depression ended the Brown Bombers' run in 1938, and Pollard went on to other ventures, including a talent agency, tax consulting, and film and music production. In 1981 Brown University conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) "It's terribly ironic that we live in a time that Fritz Pollard's own coaching experience in the NFL isn't really that different from today," said Aron Solomon, chief legal analyst with Today's Esquire, which provides comprehensive legal analysis on news stories of the day. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. They also threatened not to play when he was denied a room in LA. Is Dallas becoming unaffordable due to rising housing costs, inflation and stagnating pay? Pollard was the only Akron player named in the All-Pro side, but when the team received their championship trophy, he wasn't invited. He later worked as a tax and public relations consultant. Thirty percent of assistant NFL coaches are Black. The figure to keep Pollard from becoming a free agent is $10.1 million. In his seven-year pro career, Pollard played for four NFL teams plus two in rival leagues in Pennsylvania. Pro Football Hall of Fame (inducted 2005), https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fritz-Pollard, Ohio History Central - Biography of Frederick D. Pollard, Pro Football Hall of Fame - Biography of Fritz Pollard, Fritz Pollard - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Pollard, 25, has assumed a big role in 2022 as he preps for free agency. [6], As a junior, even though he shared the backfield with Darrell Henderson, he totaled 78 carries for 552 yards (7.1-yard avg. In 1923 and 1924, he served as head coach for the Hammond Pros.[2]. As a senior, he was a two-way starter at wide receiver and cornerback on the high school football team. [19] In Week 15 against the San Francisco 49ers, Pollard recorded 132 yards from scrimmage and two rushing touchdowns during the 4133 win. When they tell you something that they want to do, listen. [22] In Week 5, against the New York Giants, Pollard totaled 103 scrimmage yards in the 4420 victory. Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). 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. [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. Pollard himself was now in the factory town of Akron, Ohio. Pollard and Thorpe were pro football's highest-paid players, the main attractions. Despite his accomplishments in football, he was hardly immune to the discrimination African-Americans facedincluding before that 1916 Rose Bowl. "We thought that meant the NFL was out tohire more Black head coaches. American football was different. If the field was a quagmire, his face would be held in the water. 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. After Pollard, the second black starting quarterback was Marlin Briscoe in 1968. He didn't get to see it. "(Two teammates)watched the proceedings as long as they could. Pollard established theNew York Independent News, the first weekly black tabloid. And it wont be a surprise if Pollard stays above 5.0 all season. Fritz Pollard, the NFL's first African-American head coach, was a true pioneer of the sport. "You couldn't eat in the restaurants or stay in the hotels," Pollard told the New York Times in 1978. "The NFL has one fundamental beliefabout Black coaches. He coached and managed all-black teams in exhibition games, giving them a chance to showcase their talent. Surrounded by family and BBQ. USA TODAY NFL insider Mike Jones breaks down former Miami Dolphins' head coach Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL, Giants and Dolphins. Rival fans would taunt Pollard with it throughout his career. He had waited65 years from his hiringas an NFL coach to see if he had pioneered a change. Last updated on 2 October 20202 October 2020.From the section American Football. A memorial for Marshall outside Washington's stadium was removed in June, along with all other references to him, after it was spray-painted with the words "change the name". ProFootballHistory.com. Its more than fair to wonder about the opposite.More from Cowboys-Chargers, Poor clock management made game-winning kick longer than it needed to be, Cowboys were very comfortable playing in SoFi Stadium, Cowboys gained much-needed confidence from a victory the Chargers bungled away, Tony Pollard, Ezekiel Elliott run all over Chargers defense, Rookie LB Micah Parsons records first NFL sack while lined up at DE, 5 takeaways from Cowboys-Chargers, including the best game from Dallas linebackers in years, Cowboys were very comfortable playing in SoFi Stadium: That was our home game, National reaction to Cowboys-Chargers: Greg Zuerlein drills game-winning FG; Tony Pollard shines. In fact, he helped it change. Thats Tennessees Derrick Henry, Minnesotas Dalvin Cook and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson. He never played quarterback again. Pollard's legacy lives on through his grandson Fritz D Pollard III (and children Meredith Pollard Russell and Marcus Pollard) his other grandson Dr Stephen Towns and granddaughter Stephanie Towns. Both he and Halas were at that meeting of team owners in 1933, when Marshall pitched the idea of banning black players. 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. Reasons and Patrick, "Pollard Set Records as Black Football Player, Coach". One opposing school'sfans would sing "Bye Bye Blackbird"when his grandfathercame on the field, Towns said. In 40 college games, Pollard recorded 941 rushing yards and 1,292 receiving yards. Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. "Fans have, perhaps, noticed that after staging one of his brilliant runs for a touchdown he seeks a place of seclusion sometimes even going so far to duck underneath the stands.". "He's the one that taught everybody how to barbeque.". That is a heavy, heavy workload, and if there is one thing I give head coach Mike McCarthy credit for, its understanding this. 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. From the SI Vault: They had reservations at a hotel in Pasadena, but upon their arrival, the desk clerk announced that the hotel had space for everyone except Pollard. It didn't end until the Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington in 1946, and the NFL wasn't fully reintegrated until 1962. The same didn't happen in the coaching ranks. It was Halas, who in 1922, suggested to the other owners that the name of the league be changed from the American Professional Football Association to the National Football League. He played and coached when, despite being the highest paid player in the league $1,500 a game he wasn't allowed to dresswith his team. It's kind of weird to say, but I. As he faced criticism and discrimination, Pollard didn't fight back, not off the field. Both men are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft . That's where he got the nickname Fritz. I never saw him angry.". But on Thursday night at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, as a sign of how far things have come since Pollards day, 70 percent of the players on the active rosters of the Bears and Packers were black, a statistic that mirrors the dominant presence of blacks on the field in a league that had $8.78 billion in revenue in 2018. Here are five things Cowboys fans might not know about the running back and special teams ace: Stayed home. It wasan incredible display of solidarity. Pollard, along with all nine of the African American players in the NFL at the time, were removed from the league at the end of the 1926 season, never to return again. Are we to believe that youre really doing exhaustive searches, trying to uncover the best coaches, but only two out of the last 20 have been African Americans?". Now the family shop is where Tony's family and friends gather to cheer him on. The Pollards have been Barbequing for four generations. "If somebody were to ask Fritz Pollard, 'What do you think 100 years from now it's going to be like in the National Football League?'" [10], Fritz also coached the Gilberton Cadamounts, a non-NFL team. Pollard was illegally hit during games and, if he landed on the ground, white players would pile on top of him and beat him, according to newspaper accounts. ", In February 2021, Dungywrote an open letter to NFL ownersabout the league's lack of minority hires. "The first was Fritz Pollard. "They couldn't find anything so I said 'you're looking in the wrong papers'," says Fritz III. On November 19, 1922, Pollard and Paul Robeson lead the Badgers to victory over the great Jim Thorpe and his Oorang Indians. When returning kick-offs, he often dived to the floor, leaving the tacklers to collide with each other, before getting back to his feet to continue running. But not all teams were integrated until Bobby Mitchell joined the Washington (Commanders) in 1962. Keep working, keep going. The Fritz Pollard Alliance was in 2016 one of the first to support Colin Kaepernick, another black quarterback who has had to wait for the significance of his deeds to be acknowledged by his sport. Aged 21, Pollard was only 5ft 8ins - small for football, even then. "I kind of love it. So that played a big part too. Subjects: Do you find this information helpful? "God had gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my person goals," Flores said in a statement. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. In that same time frame, Zeke has nine in 572 carries about one every 63 rushing attempts. Pollard was one of only two African-Americans at Brown in 1915 and the first to live on campus. Fritz Pollard blazed a trail as the first Black coach in the NFL. Who could blame him? But when the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in 1963, he was not among the charter class of 17 inductees. Pollard attended Melrose High School, where he played high school football. [14], He had 13 carries for 24 yards in his NFL debut in Week 1 against the New York Giants in the 3517 victory. As Fritz Jr handed down his collection of memorabilia in the 1990s, Fritz III began contacting each member of the Hall of Fame's 48-person selection committee, stating his grandfather's case for inclusion. In 1919, he signed on to play for the Akron Pros in the American Professional Football Association, which was renamed the NFL in 1922. He was the son of Fritz Pollard Sr., who also held a few "first" designations, one of which was . If I figured a hotel or restaurant didnt want me, I stayed away. Pollard had died just three years before, at the age of 92, but so many people were only hearing his name for the first time. As he walked on, he wouldheartaunts shouted from the stands. The faces inside the helmets may look different than they did a century ago, but the team owners are still mostly all white men who together wield an often uncompromising power in the game. Some sources indicate that Pollard also served as co-coach of the Milwaukee Badgers with Budge Garrett for part of the 1922 season. "At certain times, we were struggling ourselves as parents, just trying to do for the kids and the family," she said. He managed the Suntan Movie Studio in Harlem. According to Sports Info Solutions, only Josh Jacobs and Aaron Jones have a higher EPA generated per rushing attempt than Pollard. 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. ", 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. They taught Fritz that he could never retaliate, despite the provocation he was sure to face. It was only the beginning of Pollard breaking down racialbarriers. That's something that was drummed into me.". He was almost always in the game -- as quarterback, running back and often doing punt returns and kickoff returns. Today, SI looks back on the legacy of Fritz Pollard. He wanted the trails he blazed to change the future of the NFL.
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