Watch quarterback Jalen Hurts' best plays from his biggest games for the Philadelphia Eagles as he prepares to face the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's Super Bowl. Pollard's team won most of those games, said Towns. Pollard's Barber Shop was a popular neighbourhood hang-out and the Pollard boys played football for hours in the local park. They knew he'd be targeted because of his size and skin colour. When he showed up for football practice that September, none of the players wanted him on the team. 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. He became their player-coach the following season. Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard was born Jan. 27, 1894. "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. In 2020, there are three black coaches - the same as when the rule was instituted. "After I told them about the historically black newspapers, a guy in Mississippi called back and said 'did you know your grandfather averaged hundreds of yards a game?' Mark Wahlberg pours tequila for fans at Dallas restaurant during thunderstorm, Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving tandem clicks with joint 40-point displays in Mavs win vs. 76ers, Dallas Cowboys focused on adding another dynamic offensive weapon, 12 Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants that have closed in 2023, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responds to Lakers star LeBron James comments. If someone can slug him without the referee seeing him, it is done. As he recalled the song in his final interview with Berry before his death in 1986, tears rolled down his cheek. It didn't end until the Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington in 1946, and the NFL wasn't fully reintegrated until 1962. He was honoured instead at a separate banquet held by a local black business association. Pollard waited his entire life for a second Black person to be named head coach of an NFL team. 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. He was 65. He founded two coal delivery companies in Chicago and New York. The FPA meets with the NFL formally twice a year to discuss proposals and collate a list of qualified minority candidates ready for interview. and three touchdowns. Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard is on the mend. How to get into American football a sport for all shapes and sizes that requires both mental and physical skills. There was one Black head coach in the NFL in 1921 when a tiny, incrediblyfast running back named Fritz Pollard was hired to coach theAkron Pros at the same time he played for the team. Yet, Solomon said, Black men still aren't given equal opportunity to coach the teams they, perhaps, played for. [19] In Week 15 against the San Francisco 49ers, Pollard recorded 132 yards from scrimmage and two rushing touchdowns during the 4133 win. In 2003, in response to criticism over the lack of Black coaches in the league, the NFL created the Rooney Rule, a policy that requires teams to interview at least one ethnic-minoritycandidatefor vacant head coaching jobs. Still, many were motivated to see them by the opportunity for abuse. NFL to consider rule change after RB injury. Frederick Douglass " Fritz " Pollard (January 27, 1894 - May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. Briscoe passed for 14 touchdowns in 1968 - still a Denver Broncos record for a rookie. When the clerk refused, Sprackling pounded on the desk bell and shouted, "If there isn't a room for Fritz Pollard, none of us wants one." He also worked as director of an army YMCAand coached football at Lincoln University. Fans started showing up to see what this footballleague was all about. Surrounded by family and BBQ. Pollard was small, even for. Pollard was one of the first two along with Bobby Marshall African-Americans in the National Football League in 1920. 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. Corrections? 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.". Get the latest news. "Why?" Thirty percent of assistant NFL coaches are Black. He continued to promote the integration of more black players. Actually, if defenses should focus on anyone, its Pollard. Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. 'Bloody Wednesdays' were the scrimmages where reserve players could challenge starters for a spot on the team. The Pollard family will now have to switch to Cowboys fans now that they have family ties with the team. In 1919, he signed on to play for the Akron Pros in the American Professional Football Association, which was renamed the NFL in 1922. The Dallas Cowboys selectedTony Pollard in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The FPA negotiated with the NFL to establish a rule requiring teams to interview at least one ethnic minority candidate for each head coach vacancy. Hes 17th in the league in rushing on just 16 carries, but his 7.7 average is the best among all running backs with at least three carries. Two days after he suffered a broken left fibula and high ankle sprain in Dallas' 19-12 loss against the San . Aged 21, Pollard was only 5ft 8ins - small for football, even then. More than 12,000 people came out to Wrigley to see a much-hyped contest that ended in a scoreless tie. And here I was, playing and coaching and pulling down the highest salary in pro football. "(I) didnt get mad and want tofight them. But McCarthy has said the team will be careful with Elliotts carries because they need him at the end of the year. Five of the 11 men who had agreed to ban black players were, however. As a player-coach and later a fierce private advocate for black advancement in the game, Pollard never backed down to this authority. Then they leapt from their chairs, grabbed the waiter and proceeded to artistically maul him until he consented to wait on Pollard. [13] Pollard also published the New York Independent News from 1935 to 1942, purportedly the first African American-owned tabloid in New York City.[14]. . It was only the beginning of Pollard breaking down racialbarriers. The Dallas Cowboys selected Tony Pollard in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Then a fateful meeting took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pollard played and coached at a time when restaurants wouldn't serve him and hotels shunned him. He is one of the great football stars of all time.". Pollard's father had been a boxer who fought professionally during the Civil War. Some 27 years before Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in baseball, Fritz Pollard was the best player for the first NFL champions in 1920. Here are five things Cowboys fans might not know about the running back and special teams ace: Pollard was raised in Memphis and decided to stay in the city when he made his college choice. That's because Pollard was an exceptional return man for Memphis. and six touchdowns. He averaged 30.1 yards per return. Latest on Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard including news, stats, videos, highlights and more on ESPN If the field was a quagmire, his face would be held in the water. It's cheaper. January 26, 2023 11:18 am CT. 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. He touched the ball on 16 of his 21 snaps Sunday. He is the sonof a despised race. His grandson, Fritz III, became a three-sport All-American at college. ), 31 carries for 159 yards (5.1-yard avg.) "The narrative we are dealing with here is very close to the narrative FritzPollard dealtwith 100 years ago.". Your email address will not be published. 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. 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. Academic difficulties meant Pollard's college career was cut short. Pollards has been recognized by the Travel Channel as 1 of 10 Memphis BBQ places to visit! (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of NFL Co-Founder Carl Storck (Story), The Life And Career Of Jim Thorpe (Complete Story), Top 20 Most Underrated Coaches In NFL History (Complete List), The Life And Career Of QB Jim Plunkett (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Deion Sanders (Complete Story). In those times, Memphis-area trainers and coaches like Tim Thompson stepped up to do their part. Fritz, the standout achiever, earned a Rockefeller Scholarship at Brown University, an Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island, on the United States' east coast. Pollard was not the first black athlete paid to play football, but he was the first to star in the confederation of Midwestern franchises that became the National Football League. 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). Thats Tennessees Derrick Henry, Minnesotas Dalvin Cook and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson. Pollard and Thorpe were pro football's highest-paid players, the main attractions. He wanted the trails he blazed to change the future of the NFL. 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. Getty Images. 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. It's kind of weird to say, but I. Fritz III says his grandfather felt there were two reasons why he wasn't voted into the Hall of Fame during his lifetime: George Halas and George Preston Marshall. He also founded an all-black football team in Harlem that was unsuccessful in luring local NFL teams to play exhibition games. Fritz Pollard, the NFL's first African-American head coach, was a true pioneer of the sport. When Pollard played, the NFL was new, rough and tumble, a backyard type of experiment, said Towns. "Fritz Pollards skin is black. Ultimately, the Pros prevailed on the strength of their won-loss percentage and the quality of their opponents, but the controversy sharpened a simmering feud between Halas and Pollard over competing narratives of the formative years of the NFL. '", RELATED: Cordova High School alum Quinton Bohanna makes Dallas Cowboys 53-man roster. Yet, Pollard's humble, quiet ways never changed. 100 years ago, the NFL took its first baby steps in Indiana, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Halas is a name rightfully synonymous with the founding of the NFL. It's kind of weird to say, but I love it," Terrion said. USA TODAY. Something like that. At Brown, Pollard led the Bears to their first and only Rose Bowl appearance. "He detests crowds and avoids the spotlight whenever possible," Gibbons wrote. We look at why having two black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl is such a big moment for the NFL, and profile star men Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. For now, getting to the playoffs remains the challenge for this team. "You couldn't eat in the restaurants or stay in the hotels," Pollard told the New York Times in 1978. The 1993 Super Bowl was to be a landmark event for Arizona but it disappeared out of the state in a swirl of politics, polemic and division. When Pollard died in 1986, after careers with a talent agency, tax consultingand film and music production,his obituary noted he was still the league's only head Black coach. The family had prospered. Frederick "Fritz" Pollard saw what the world was like in the 1890s and the 1980s. Everything he learnt from his brothers was about to be put to the test. Rival fans would taunt Pollard with it throughout his career. AKA: Sharon K Fritz, Sharon Fritz-Pollard, Sharon K Pollard. Growingup, Towns said his grandfather didn't complain or talk much about those trials. They believe that Black head coaches are not fit to be leaders of men.". The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57 on Sunday, 12 February - where is it being played and how to follow on the BBC. And it wont be a surprise if Pollard stays above 5.0 all season. [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 also possibly his way of talking around what seems to be a delicate situation. Pollard ended his playing career in 1926, aged 32. In 1920, the leagues inaugural season, when there was no playoff and the champion was determined by its win-loss record, Pollards Pros went 8-0-3 and took the title. Fritz was gifted with speed and elusiveness but he was small. Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). If I figured a hotel or restaurant didnt want me, I stayed away. "Becausethey didn't want him in the locker room.". said his grandson Dr. Stephen Towns, a dentist in Indianapolis. Black players began dominatingthe NFL. Fritz III gave his permission to name it the Fritz Pollard Alliance (FPA). There have been 24 in total, with three currently among the 32 teams, despite about 70% of NFL players being from ethnic minorities. And maybe this will simply be like 2006, when it was clear all season that Marion Barber was more productive than Julius Jones, when Barber scored 10 more touchdowns and averaged almost a yard per carry more than Jones but Barber never started until the team got into the playoffs. In his seven-year pro career, Pollard played for four NFL teams plus two in rival leagues in Pennsylvania. He is considered by many observers of the NFL as the first conscience of the game. Three years later, the National Football League hired its second black head coach, Arthur "Art" Shell of the Oakland ( California) Raiders. Tony Pollard broke his left . But his family's quest finally came to fruition in 2005 when - two years after his son's death - Pollard was inducted into the Hall of Fame. I'd rather watch him do it.". It's a game thatalmost didn't happen. Reasons and Patrick, "Pollard Set Records as Black Football Player, Coach". For decades the team owners claimed there was no unwritten agreement. For this reason the FPA has in recent years been vocal in flagging potential violations of the rule while seeking to enhance it. "My son is on TV playing for the Cowboys? His imprint on this issue is felt daily through the work of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an organization that advocates for diversity and equality in coaching, scouting and the front office in the NFL. Example video title will go here for this video. All eight of the Pollard children graduated from high school and excelled at athletics or music. But the hiring didn't break down barriers. "What Pollard would have said is that at least 70%of coaches would be Black," Solomon said. When he began playing football aged 15 in 1909, he measured 4ft 11ins and weighed 89 pounds. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. Kansas CIty Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' touchdowns from his biggest games this season ahead of Sunday night's NFL Super Bowl against the. Today, SI looks back on the legacy of Fritz Pollard. Mark Wahlberg pours tequila for fans at Dallas restaurant during thunderstorm, Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving tandem clicks with joint 40-point displays in Mavs win vs. 76ers, Dallas Cowboys focused on adding another dynamic offensive weapon, Ex-Cowboys OC Kellen Moore opens up on Dallas departure, shows gratitude for Mike McCarthy, 12 Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants that have closed in 2023. 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.. RELATED: Defense leads the way in Memphis' 44-34 win over North Texas. The former Memphis standout is currently earning a base salary of $965,000 while carrying a cap charge of $1.131 million, via Spotrac. 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 . Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves and say, 'Is this real? Pollard's son Fritz Jr competed at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, winning a bronze medal in the 110m hurdles before serving in the US army in World War II. Pollard wanted the same thing. and 30 carries for 230 yards (7.7-yard avg.) 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. Sometimes Pollard's team stayed in centre-field at half-time rather than run the gauntlet of going into the locker room. ", 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. It was the first time a team had beaten them both in the same season, and Pollard won each game almost single-handedly. ProFootballHistory.com. All the while, he faced death threats from students and opposing teams. Here's the latest on Pollard's injury: Tony Pollard injury update. Updated January 24, 2023 3:22 PM. Pollard, 25, has assumed a big role in 2022 as he preps for free agency. Pollard became the second African-American in the College Hall of Fame in 1954. [22] In Week 5, against the New York Giants, Pollard totaled 103 scrimmage yards in the 4420 victory. "For Brown, The Wrong Shoe Was On The Foot In The '16 Rose Bowl Game," by Frank Bianco (Nov. 24, 1980), More Black History Month Pioneers:* Florence Griffith Joyner Smashed Records and Stereotypes* Remembering Satchel Paige, Maybe The Best Pitcher To Ever Live* Paul Robeson Was America's Quintessential Renaissance Man, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. In fact, he helped it change. The Yale supporters also turned 'Bye Bye Blackbird', a popular song of the day, into a racially abusive anthem. Tony isn't the only Pollard living his dream. The following 1920 season was the first for the American Professional Football Association - renamed the NFL in 1922 - and the Akron Pros went undefeated, outscoring their opponents 151-7. His three older brothers all played the game and felt black players could do well - if they adhered to an unwritten code of conduct. Yet, through it all, Pollard held his head high and helped lead Brown to the Rose Bowl against Washington State in 1916. Pollard. In 2005, Fritz Pollard was posthumously inducted into the, In 2015, Pollard was posthumously inducted into the, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 22:16. As a senior, he was a two-way starter at wide receiver and cornerback on the high school football team. [23], In Week 5, against the Los Angeles Rams, Pollard had a 57-yard rushing touchdown. Pollard felt that he never received the credit or recognition for his contributions to the early years of the NFL. That is a heavy, heavy workload, and if there is one thing I give head coach Mike McCarthy credit for, its understanding this. His brothers decided they had to toughen him up. 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. Not the way Solomon believes Pollard might have expected. Newspaper articles at the time, who described Pollard as a "colored" coach, praised his stellar football IQ. I never saw him angry.". "We better let him play," the linebacker told the coach. The new owner of a team there had got in touch with him. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. As his team returned from one game in Gilberton, the train's windows were shot out. He spent some time organizing all-African American barnstorming teams, including the Chicago Black Hawks in 1928 and the Harlem Brown Bombers in the 1930s. But he combated such treatment with tricks he learned from his brothers. 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. "The league was challenged with a report showing that, essentially, African-Americans were the last hired and first fired," says Duru, who worked with the FPA from its inception. Its possible the head coach simply believes that. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Tony Pollard Is a Special Runner. 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. ", "Look at the c-suites of your teams, the medical staffs, and the ultimate decision makers the head coaches and GMs and youll see those faces dont represent what your teams look like," Dungy wrote last year. "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. [3] He finished among the national leaders in kickoff return average (28.1 yards). . Pollard established theNew York Independent News, the first weekly black tabloid. He was born Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard. He proved me wrong.". That'sjust the way the times were back then," Pollard would say. Flores suit came afterthe New York Giants hiredBrian Daboll over him as head coach. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. "But I'm not," he said. ", Fritz III recalls: "You could see all the reporters going 'who's Fritz Pollard?' [3] He became the first African American running back to be named to Walter Camp's All-America team. Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. They'd then verify the information. In the 1930s, Pollard founded his own professional football team, the Brown Bombers. Pollard wouldn't have to dodge the spotlight for long. "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 founded the first African-American investment firm: F.D. He registered 29 receptions for 298 yards (10.3-yard avg. 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. follow. [2] He was the first African American football player at Brown. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. "Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the '40s," says Pollard's grandson, Fritz Pollard III. Things have not been much different in 100 years, said Solomon. Bleacher crowds and outside towns jeerhim and taunthim about his color," read anarticle in the Akron Evening Times December 5, 1920. 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. Their move north had paid off. Todd Brock. Lets just make sure no one ever wrings their hands about Pollard taking carries away from Zeke. At one game, a competitor started mocking Pollard's curly hair. Pollard left a lasting impression in Providence. Fritz III's daughter Meredith Kaye Russell, born in 1988, also joined the cause, helping with research and acting as her father's secretary. Born Frederick Douglass Pollard in 1894 - after the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass - his nickname Fritz reflected Rogers Park's predominantly German make-up. But Pollard appears more likely for several reasons. It would be almost half a century until the NFL next had a black starting quarterback. Pollard and Co. Days later, Pollard played in abenefit game inPittsburgh and was greeted with a hero's welcome. Many believe that the Cowboys just found their next kick returner. Halas was involved with the Chicago Bears from their creation in 1920 until his death in 1983, first as a player, then coach and team owner. He was the first African American selected to a backfield position on Walter Camps All-America team (1916) and the first African American head coach in the National Football League (NFL), with the Akron Pros in 1921. In 1923, while playing for the Hammond Pros, he became the first African American quarterback in the league. "He wantedto see anotherhe wanted to seemany African American coaches.". The same players that shunned Pollard four months earlier were now bringing him food. While Brown lost the Rose Bowl 14-0 to Washington State,it was a historic game. Pollard was one of only two African-Americans at Brown in 1915 and the first to live on campus. By Farrell Evans. Still, some players didn't like that Pollard was playing and they despised even more that he was a star player in the NFL. At the hotel, Assistant Coach Bill Sprackling demanded to see the manager. 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. He also saw how it changed between then. With his last words, spoken to his family in 2003, he said: "Don't forget your quest.". 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. [10], Fritz also coached the Gilberton Cadamounts, a non-NFL team. 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. 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. The following year Pollard was the star player for the Akron Pros, who won the first NFL championship. 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. In 1954 Pollard became the second African American selected to the College Football Hall of Fame. The Life And Career Of Steve Sabol (Story), The Fascinating Life Of Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder (Story), What Happened To NFL Referee Mike Carey? The NFL has now acknowledged, Meet the young UK wrestlers fighting their demons. After Pollard, the second black starting quarterback was Marlin Briscoe in 1968. If they think they can't do something or belittle themselves. Pollard himself was now in the factory town of Akron, Ohio. Are you an NFL rookie? That quest had also been his own - to get his father into the US Pro Football Hall of Fame. Im wondering what it will be this week after Elliott was good against the Chargers and Pollard was great.