Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. Football pioneer

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the syste ...

called Pollard "one of the greatest runners these eyes have ever seen."

Early life

Pollard attended Albert G. Lane Manual Training High School in Chicago, also known as " Lane Tech," where he played football, baseball, and ran track. He then went to Brown University, majoring in chemistry. Pollard played halfback on the Brown football team, which went to the

1916 Rose Bowl Originally titled the "Tournament East-West football game," the second of what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was played on January 1, 1916. The Rose Bowl game has been played annually since this game. The first game, the 1902 Rose Bowl, 1902 ...

.Reasons and Patrick, "Pollard Set Records as Black Football Player, Coach", ''The Plain Dealer'', Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, February 27, Section E: 5. He was the first African American football player at Brown. He became the first African American running back to be named to

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

team. Pollard coached Lincoln University's football team in Oxford, Pennsylvania during the 1918 to 1920 seasons and served as athletic director of the school's World War I era

Students' Army Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

. During 1918–1919, he led the team to a victorious season defeating

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

's Bisons 13–0 in the annual Thanksgiving classic as well as

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association a ...

(7–0) on November 9, 1918, and teams of military recruits at Camp Dix (19–0) on November 2, 1918, and Camp Upton (41–0). By the fall of 1920, he had begun to play for Akron, missing key Lincoln losses to Hampton (0–14) and Howard (0–42), much to the consternation of the alumni and administration."Fred Pollard Finishes as Coach for Lincoln", ''Chicago Defender'', December 4, 1920.

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his ...

was enlisted by Lincoln's alumni to coach the Thanksgiving 1920 game against Howard. Pollard criticized Lincoln's administration, saying they had hampered his ability to coach and had refused to provide adequate travel accommodations for the team. "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. "No cabins were provided, nor were they given a place to sleep after reaching Hampton. They lost the game through lack of rest." He also blamed the school for not providing the proper equipment. "I, myself, bought and paid $200 out of my pocket for football shoes for the team." He missed the 1920 Howard game, he said, because his Lincoln salary was so low that he was compelled to augment it with pay from Akron. Pollard and Robeson

He played professional football with the

Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter ...

, the team he would lead to the APFA championship in 1920. In 1921, he became the co-head coach of the Akron Pros, while still maintaining his roster position as

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

. He also played for the

Milwaukee Badgers The Milwaukee Badgers was a professional American football team, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on ...

, Hammond Pros,

Gilberton Cadamounts The Gilberton Catamounts, sometimes called the Gilberton Cadamounts and the Gilberton Duck Streeters, were a 1920s-era professional football team based in Gilberton, Pennsylvania. However, the team played many of its home games in nearby Mahanoy ...

Union Club of Phoenixville The Union Club of Phoenixville was a professional football team based in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The team was the result of a 1919 merger between the Phoenixville Union Club and the upstart Phoenix Athletic Club. From 1907 until 1919, the U ...

and Providence Steam Roller. Some sources indicate that Pollard also served as co-coach of the Milwaukee Badgers with

Budge Garrett Alfred Tennyson "Budge" Garrett (April 17, 1893 – June 11, 1950) was a professional American football player with the Akron Pros of the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922). During his one ye ...

for part of the 1922 season. He also coached the Gilberton Cadamounts, a non-NFL team. In 1923 and 1924, he served as head coach for the Hammond Pros. 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 spent some time organizing all-African American barnstorming teams, including the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in 1928 and the

Harlem Brown Bombers Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Har ...

in the 1930s.

Later life

In the 1930s, Pollard founded his own professional football team, the Brown Bombers. 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 produced ''Rockin' the Blues'' in 1956, which included such performers as Connie Carroll, The Harptones, The Five Miller Sisters, Pearl Woods, Linda Hopkins, Elyce Roberts,

The Hurricanes The Fabulous Hurricanes (formerly The Hurricanes) are a Rhythm and blues, rhythm & blues group originally from Edinburgh, now based in London. The band, currently a four-piece consists of a drummer, James Adam; bassist, Triss Duncan, guitarist ...

, and The Wanderers. Pollard also published the '' New York Independent News'' from 1935 to 1942, purportedly the first African American-owned

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft * ''Ta ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. 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.

Honors and legacy

* In 1981 Brown University conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree on Pollard, recognizing his achievements as athlete and leader. * In 2005, Fritz Pollard was posthumously inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...

. * In 2015, Pollard was posthumously inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. * Pollard appears as a free agent in '' Madden NFL 09'' and '' Madden NFL 10'' and is also a part of the game's Hall of Fame feature. * Pollard's son

Fritz Pollard Jr. Fritz Pollard Jr. (February 18, 1915 – February 15, 2003) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 110 metre hurdles. Biography While a student at the University of North Dakota, he was a running back for the football team. He w ...

won the bronze medal for

110 m hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad ( German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi- ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. * The

Fritz Pollard Alliance The Rooney Rule is a National Football League policy that requires league teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. It is an example of affirmative action, even though before 2022 there wa ...

, a group promoting minority hiring throughout the NFL, is named for Pollard. * Brown University and the Black Coaches & Administrators co-sponsor the annual Fritz Pollard Award, which is presented to the college or professional coach chosen by the BCA as coach of the year.Brown University �
Brown University and the Black Coaches Association establish annual Fritz Pollard Award
February 18, 2004.

Head coaching record

College

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Fritz Pollard and early African American professional football players
(Brown University) February 18, 2004
Fritz's Fame
a biography at ''Brown Alumni Magazine'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Fritz 1894 births 1986 deaths American football halfbacks Brown Bears football players Akron Indians (Ohio League) players Akron Indians coaches Akron Indians players Akron Pros coaches Akron Pros players Gilberton Cadamounts players Hammond Pros coaches Hammond Pros players Lincoln Lions football coaches Milwaukee Badgers players Providence Steam Roller players Union Club of Phoenixville players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Chicago Sportspeople from Hammond, Indiana Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Chicago African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football Editors of New York City newspapers 20th-century African-American sportspeople