Pollardoften had to be escorted onto the field by police officers. Instead, he let his play speak for itself. His is a story for too long left untold. This article is about the football pioneer. But Fritz would get up laughing and smiling every time. He proved me wrong.". [10] Just six days later, on January 17, 2019, Pollard was added to the 2019 North Senior Bowl roster. . 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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. Pollard played and coached at a time when restaurants wouldn't serve him and hotels shunned him. ", "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. That is a heavy, heavy workload, and if there is one thing I give head coach Mike McCarthy credit for, its understanding this. Yet, through it all, Pollard held his head high and helped lead Brown to the Rose Bowl against Washington State in 1916. 'Feels Like Home:' electrical failure from a light fixture caused December fire that killed 1, Shelby County reporting an increase in drug-related overdoses, largely due to fentanyl, Severe weather threat is over | Prepare for a sunny weekend, Daylight saving time starts soon. 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". Three years after Pollard's death,Art Shell was hired as head coach of the Raiders, the first Black head NFL coach of the modern era. https://t.co/5repnhdcW4. Black players began dominatingthe NFL. Tony Dungy, who became the first Black . "Pollard's Orange and Blue Juggernaut Crushes Camp Dix". "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. "He always let his skills on the field, and his actions off it, define who he was. During high school Pollard was actually a better baseball player, but he knew he wouldn't be able to progress. The opposing teams gave me hell too.". Fritz Pollard was born in Chicago in 1894, the seventh of eight children. 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. and three touchdowns. The final was 13-0 with Robeson scoring both touchdowns in his finest pro football performance. He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft . 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. 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 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. degree on Pollard, recognizing his achievements as athlete and leader. At that time Pollard was 69 and the owner of several business ventures. There are three awards in his name at Brown and in the 1970s, when his grandson Fritz III played football there, a local shop owner refused to take his money and said: "My father took me to see your grandfather play. "(Two teammates)watched the proceedings as long as they could. When they tell you something that they want to do, listen. All eight of the Pollard children graduated from high school and excelled at athletics or music. Keep working, keep going. Pollard asked to run the play twice more and scored two more touchdowns. At Brown, Pollard led the Bears to their first and only Rose Bowl appearance. "He's the one that taught everybody how to barbeque.". 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. "My son is on TV playing for the Cowboys? That quest had also been his own - to get his father into the US Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pollard becamethe first Black man to play in the Rose Bowl. On November 19, 1922, Pollard and Paul Robeson lead the Badgers to victory over the great Jim Thorpe and his Oorang Indians. Because my son proved me wrong.". 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). [7] By the fall of 1920, he had begun to play for Akron, missing key Lincoln losses to Hampton (014) and Howard (042), much to the consternation of the alumni and administration. In 1923, while playing for the Hammond Pros, he became the first African American quarterback in the league. 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 . On the train out west to Los Angeles, even black porters refused to wait on him. 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." "And it has been discouraging to see that in the last three hiring cycles of head coaches, things have not been much different. He founded the first African-American investment firm: F.D. After leaving Brown, Pollard pursued a degree in dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania for two years. If so, watch our guide to the key rules, the player positions and the ultimate aim of the game. But in the 1916 season, Brown beat Yale and Harvard on consecutive weekends. Born Frederick Douglass Pollard in 1894 - after the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass - his nickname Fritz reflected Rogers Park's predominantly German make-up. 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. There are twoBlack head coachesin the NFL in 2022. "The NFL has one fundamental beliefabout Black coaches. But when the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in 1963, he was not among the charter class of 17 inductees. I didnt go sniffing around hoping theyd accept me. He had two returns for touchdown and was named the American Athletic Conference's Special Teams Player of the Year. Flores suit came afterthe New York Giants hiredBrian Daboll over him as head coach. "Sometimes they would just pick him up, take him to camp and wouldn't ask for a dime," Torria said. My father had taught me that I was too big to be humiliated by prejudiced whites. [8] Paul Robeson was enlisted by Lincoln's alumni to coach the Thanksgiving 1920 game against Howard. 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. 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. If they think they can't do something or belittle themselves. It was named the Rooney Rule after Dan Rooney, former owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who at the time was chairman of the NFL's diversity committee. [11], Pollard was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round (128th overall) in the 2019 NFL Draft. He also went on to become the second Black player named to Walter Camp's All-American team. "Why?" But the fleet-footed running back quickly became the team's star player, dubbed 'the human torpedo' because he ran so low to the turf. Pollard was the only Akron player named in the All-Pro side, but when the team received their championship trophy, he wasn't invited. In a decade during which hundreds of African-Americans were still being lynched, he was playing a 'white man's game' when the NFL was in its brutal infancy. [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. But he combated such treatment with tricks he learned from his brothers. "He literally kept the NFL from folding," Towns said. 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. Get the latest news. Pollard also facilitated integration in the NFL by recruiting other African American players such as Paul Robeson, Jay Mayo Williams, and John Shelbourne and by organizing the first interracial all-star game featuring NFL players in 1922. They had to cut to a commercial and then my phone just blew up with people saying 'they're talking about your grandfather'.". The No. Updates? He is considered by many observers of the NFL as the first conscience of the game. In 2020, there are three black coaches - the same as when the rule was instituted. Pollard's wins above replacement also ranks third in the NFL, behind Jacobs and Nick Chubb. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. They had some prejudiced people there. He didn't care to serve Fritz," Gibbons wrote. 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. [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]. Surrounded by family and BBQ. He managed the Suntan Movie Studio in Harlem. He later worked as a tax and public relations consultant. The Pollards were well known in Rogers Park, a suburb on the north side of Chicago. For now, getting to the playoffs remains the challenge for this team. Pollard felt that he never received the credit or recognition for his contributions to the early years of the NFL. When Pollard played, the NFL was new, rough and tumble, a backyard type of experiment, said Towns. I was there to play football and make my money.. Subjects: Do you find this information helpful? 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). At the hotel, Assistant Coach Bill Sprackling demanded to see the manager. 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. Pollard's father had been a boxer who fought professionally during the Civil War. Briscoe passed for 14 touchdowns in 1968 - still a Denver Broncos record for a rookie. Football pioneer Walter Camp called Pollard "one of the greatest runners these eyes have ever seen."[1]. Example video title will go here for this video. 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. Omissions? It didn't end until the Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington in 1946, and the NFL wasn't fully reintegrated until 1962. I was never interested in socializing with whites. Additionally, Pollard ranks ninth in positive EPA play percentage, meaning he is . Bothered by an upset stomach, the running back ran a 4.52 40-yard dash at the combine, which was a slow time for him. If Pollard wasn't allowed to stay at the hotel, they would all leave and head back to Rhode Island. He subsequently became the first black running back to ever be selected for the All-American team. Both men are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Dallas Cowboys lost in the playoffs to the San Francisco 49ers for a second straight year, and their Pro Bowl running back suffered a serious injury in the process. Be the smartest Cowboys fan. If someone can slug him without the referee seeing him, it is done. [7] In the 2018 Birmingham Bowl against Wake Forest, he recorded 318 all-purpose yards (209 on kickoff returns) and one rushing touchdown. 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. The Dallas Cowboys selected Tony Pollard in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Pollard, 25, has assumed a big role in 2022 as he preps for free agency. Since this would be the second consecutive season on . 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. He made up for it at Memphis' pro day by clocking in at a 4.37. Fritz Pollard made history as NFL's first black coach and quarterback. 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. But the discussion of balance that was all about run vs. pass after Tampa Bay should shift to the balancing act the two running backs necessitate. The NFL has now acknowledged it did exist.external-link. The next year, he was named co-head coach as he continued to play for the Pros. Early years [ edit] Three years later, the National Football League hired its second black head coach, Arthur "Art" Shell of the Oakland ( California) Raiders. Getty Images. "You couldn't eat in the restaurants or stay in the hotels," Pollard told the New York Times in 1978. At one game, a competitor started mocking Pollard's curly hair. Are you an NFL rookie? American football was different. Everything you need to know about Brian Flores' lawsuit against NFL. 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. "When he was six years old, he said 'Mom, I'm going to the NFL.' 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?". Pollards has been recognized by the Travel Channel as 1 of 10 Memphis BBQ places to visit! 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. Some of the worst violence took place in Pollard's home town of Chicago. Pollard continued to play and coach in the NFL until 1926. Since that letter, Dungy says"not a lot has changed. Pollard underwent surgery. 1. Pollard, one of two Black players in the NFL and thefirst Black coach, would suit up in his car outside the football field or go to a nearby cigar store where the owner let him use a back room. That's something that was drummed into me.". Then in November 1923, after switching teams, he played an entire game at quarterback for the Hammond Pros. George Halas Bears, then called the Staleys, also claimed the title with a 10-1-2 record. He was honoured instead at a separate banquet held by a local black business association. He is the sonof a despised race. 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. The former Memphis Tiger first stepped on a football field when he was four years old. 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. Yet the social revolution that Pollard led in the professional game is largely responsible for the sports endurance as the countrys most popular spectator sport. It was a German-immigrant part of town. Here's when clocks will 'spring forward' in 2023, Cordova High School alum Quinton Bohanna makes Dallas Cowboys 53-man roster, Defense leads the way in Memphis' 44-34 win over North Texas. A year ago when Pollard averaged 4.3 to Zekes 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 49ers were injured and prepared to face Elliott. Pollard's family grew up Pittsburgh Steelers fans, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Still, many were motivated to see them by the opportunity for abuse. 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. [20] Overall, he appeared in all 16 games, of which he started two, in the 2020 season. He was the school's first black athlete a triple threat when it came to sports in football, track and boxing. "And it's not even close.". He wanted the trails he blazed to change the future of the NFL. Be the smartest Cowboys fan. "If anybody had the right to be angry about the way he was treated it was my grandfather, but he never showed it," says Fritz III. Pollard and Co. [2] He was the first African American football player at Brown. Pollard was posthumously inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in . Solomon said. His grandson, Fritz III, became a three-sport All-American at college. "He detests crowds and avoids the spotlight whenever possible," Gibbons wrote. Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. AKA: Sharon K Fritz, Sharon Fritz-Pollard, Sharon K Pollard. "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. One opposing school'sfans would sing "Bye Bye Blackbird"when his grandfathercame on the field, Towns said. Yet he welcomed Pollard with a highly abusive racial slur, saying he was going to kill him. Here are 4 reasons why they should Related: Cowboys RB Tony Pollard undergoes surgery for injuries suffered vs. 49ers Related: What NFL salary cap increase means for Cowboys and how it affects RB . But Pollard appears more likely for several reasons. follow. He was born Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard. He opened the Sun Tan Studios, where the likes of Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole rehearsed, and produced music videos called 'soundies'. Pollard then signed with the NFL's Akron Pros, whom he led to a championship in his rookie season. A standout athlete at Brown University, Pollard also qualified for the 1916 Olympics in Berlin for the low hurdles, but the games were cancelled after the outbreak of World War I. "Id look at themand grin," Pollard said in a 1974 interview with NFL Films. [18], Pollard continued his role as a backup to Ezekiel Elliott to go along with some kickoff return duties in the 2020 season. [21], In Week 2, against the Los Angeles Chargers, Pollard totaled 137 scrimmage yards in the 2017 victory. In his seven-year pro career, Pollard played for four NFL teams plus two in rival leagues in Pennsylvania. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Thirty percent of assistant NFL coaches are Black. "You just lived with it. "All of us got played by the NFL," he said. 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. USA TODAY. [4], As a sophomore, he posted 36 receptions for 536 yards (14.9-yard avg.) Nonetheless, in the opening week of the NFL season, there were four black head coaches, one black general manager and nine black starting quarterbacks. Many credit Pollard and Jim Thorpe with saving the fledgling league as it struggled to compete with baseball and boxing. Fritz III's daughter Meredith Kaye Russell, born in 1988, also joined the cause, helping with research and acting as her father's secretary. He retired from football in 1937 to pursue a career in business and watched as the NFL ban on Black players started to lift after World War II. [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 was carted to the X-ray room with an air cast on his leg. Pollard is severely underpaid as a mid-round draft pick. Frederick Douglass " Fritz " Pollard (January 27, 1894 - May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. 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. But I was there to play football. Pollard tied an NCAA record with seven kickoff returns for touchdowns. ), 31 carries for 159 yards (5.1-yard avg.) It would be almost half a century until the NFL next had a black starting quarterback. The Yale supporters also turned 'Bye Bye Blackbird', a popular song of the day, into a racially abusive anthem. When the team went to sign in at the hotel, the front desk refused Pollard. "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.". Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. "Becausethey didn't want him in the locker room.". Newspaper articles at the time, who described Pollard as a "colored" coach, praised his stellar football IQ. This year, the NFL is celebrating its 100th season and a heritage that began when 11 teams met on Aug. 20, 1920, in Canton, Ohio, to form the American Professional Football Association. They dressed in locker rooms, ate with teammates at restaurants, slept in team hotels and became multi-million-dollar superstars. "Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the '40s," says Pollard's grandson, Fritz Pollard III. The Pollards have been Barbequing for four generations. After Pollard, the second black starting quarterback was Marlin Briscoe in 1968. Hundreds of black people were killed by white supremacists. Its also possibly his way of talking around what seems to be a delicate situation. He has amassed 1,279 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns while sharing load with Elliott. He called the team Redskins in 1933, a racial slur that was only dropped in July this year amid mounting pressure. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). After escaping slavery, he had fought for the Union during the Civil War. He was 65. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). His professional career was finally about to begin. By the time the NFL's second black head coach was appointed in 1989, Pollard, who died in 1986, had long been written out of the history books. Speaking of food, the running back's family owns a restaurant called "Pollard's BBQ" located in Memphis. More than 12,000 people came out to Wrigley to see a much-hyped contest that ended in a scoreless tie. The play that ended Tony Pollard's postseason had huge ramifications on the Cowboys offense in . Pollard ended his playing career in 1926, aged 32. Marshall's Washington team was the last to sign a black player - after the government threatened to revoke the team's lease on their publicly funded stadium if they did not. The manager appeared, and Pollard got a room. "The narrative we are dealing with here is very close to the narrative FritzPollard dealtwith 100 years ago.". Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. 0:00. this year amid mounting pressure. He founded two coal delivery companies in Chicago and New York. The figure to keep Pollard from becoming a free agent is $10.1 million. "Crack Lincoln University Team Coached by Fritz Pollard". When he began playing football aged 15 in 1909, he measured 4ft 11ins and weighed 89 pounds. Yet, Pollard's humble, quiet ways never changed. "It was bad for white people to come and watch Black people who have jobs.". In fact, he helped it change. Despite his accomplishments in football, he was hardly immune to the discrimination African-Americans facedincluding before that 1916 Rose Bowl. Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. 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. His case is typical of a process called 'racial stacking' which still influences the number of black head coaches we see today. He played professional football with the Akron Pros, the team he would lead to the APFA championship in 1920. "No cabins were provided, nor were they given a place to sleep after reaching Hampton. . 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. He was a theater agent, booking African-Americans in clubs across New York City. "My granddaddy barbequed at home," said Tarrance Pollard, Tony's father. 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. 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. There were four 100-yard rushers in the NFL Sunday and three of them are basically the legendary runners top fantasy picks, if you will in the game. "(I) didnt get mad and want tofight them. January 26, 2023 11:18 am CT. In 1937, Fritz Pollard retired from pro football and pursued a career in business. Who could blame him? In 40 college games, Pollard recorded 941 rushing yards and 1,292 receiving yards. Many know that Pollard suffered from food poising at the NFL combine. As he recalled the song in his final interview with Berry before his death in 1986, tears rolled down his cheek. 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. 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. "The big contrast now is absolutely how crazy big the NFL is as a business, billions and billions of dollars," he said.