In the 1930s, Pollard founded his own professional football team, the Brown Bombers. He has amassed 1,279 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns while sharing load with Elliott. His Black fans "were so wild over having him in their midst that they arranged a parade and met him at the railroad depot," wrote Gibbons. Alternate titles: Frederick Douglass Pollard, Sr. Regents Professor of History at Lamar University. Pollardoften had to be escorted onto the field by police officers. Tony Pollard broke his left . 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. [8] Paul Robeson was enlisted by Lincoln's alumni to coach the Thanksgiving 1920 game against Howard. It's cheaper. I said 'No you're not, sit down.' Solomon said. But Fritz would get up laughing and smiling every time. He managed the Suntan Movie Studio in Harlem. FRISCO, Texas At the age of 14, Tony Pollard started flipping burgers at his family's famous restaurant, Pollard's Bar-B-Que on Elvis Presley Boulevard, in Memphis, Tenn . If Pollard wasn't allowed to stay at the hotel, they would all leave and head back to Rhode Island. 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. For this reason the FPA has in recent years been vocal in flagging potential violations of the rule while seeking to enhance it. Instead, he let his play speak for itself. But McCarthy has said the team will be careful with Elliotts carries because they need him at the end of the year. In 40 college games, Pollard recorded 941 rushing yards and 1,292 receiving yards. He averaged 30.1 yards per return. That's something that was drummed into me.". More than 12,000 people came out to Wrigley to see a much-hyped contest that ended in a scoreless tie. He was 65. They also threatened not to play when he was denied a room in LA. Then they leapt from their chairs, grabbed the waiter and proceeded to artistically maul him until he consented to wait on Pollard. degree on Pollard, recognizing his achievements as athlete and leader. 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. Cowboys RB Tony Pollard suffered broken leg, high ankle sprain in loss Newspaper articles at the time, who described Pollard as a "colored" coach, praised his stellar football IQ. [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. The next year, he was named co-head coach as he continued to play for the Pros. Growingup, Towns said his grandfather didn't complain or talk much about those trials. In 1921, Pollard became the league's first black coach and in 1923 its first black quarterback. He also founded an all-black football team in Harlem that was unsuccessful in luring local NFL teams to play exhibition games. He founded a newspaper, and set up an investment fund and a company trading coal. Get the latest news. He was almost always in the game -- as quarterback, running back and often doing punt returns and kickoff returns. this year amid mounting pressure. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. He never played quarterback again. Tackle that ended Cowboys RB Tony Pollard's season to be reviewed 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. He played professional football with the Akron Pros, the team he would lead to the APFA championship in 1920. They'd then verify the information. The former Memphis Tiger first stepped on a football field when he was four years old. His mother was Native American, his father an African American who boxed professionally during the Civil War. It was named one of the 10 best BBQ restaurants in the city of Memphis by the Travel Channel. Pollard was wickedly smart and, while playing halfback at Brown as the school's first Black player, he majored in chemistry, earning almost all As. 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. Corrections? [1] He helped the team reach the playoffs, while making over 1,200 receiving yards, 20 touchdowns and being named All-District 16-AAA. 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. follow. After leaving Brown, Pollard pursued a degree in dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania for two years. Along with becoming the league's first African-American head coach, he also was its first. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Pollard's BBQ is back open on Sundaysbut you better have your Cowboys gear on. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. ", "I will never tell a child again to sit down. [4], As a sophomore, he posted 36 receptions for 536 yards (14.9-yard avg.) [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]. For decades the team owners claimed there was no unwritten agreement. BBC Sport looks at some of the stories that make Super Bowl LVII one of the most exciting yet as the Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles. 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 kind of love it. Pollard played short stints of football for Northwestern, Harvard and Dartmouth before receiving a scholarship from the Rockefeller family to attend Brown University in 1915. "Times got hard, he let me skip a payment here, skip a payment there and train them anyway," Tarrance said. Pollard suffered a fractured left . 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. Pollard got all of 13 carries and turned it into 109 yards, his second biggest day as a pro. RELATED: Defense leads the way in Memphis' 44-34 win over North Texas. 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. [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. None of this is meant to discredit Elliott. But when the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in 1963, he was not among the charter class of 17 inductees. After Pollard, the second black starting quarterback was Marlin Briscoe in 1968. [26] During the 2022-23 NFC divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, Pollard suffered a high ankle sprain and fractured fibula in the second quarter when 49ers defensive back Jimmie Ward landed on his ankle while making the tackle. Pollard tied an NCAA record with seven kickoff returns for touchdowns. The US summer of 1919 was known as the Red Summer. Still, many were motivated to see them by the opportunity for abuse. The Bears recently unveiled statues of Halas and one of his great draft choices, Walter Payton, the Hall of Fame running back, who could not have played in the league were it not for the sacrifices of men like Pollard. Pollard felt that he never received the credit or recognition for his contributions to the early years of the NFL. Pollard was one of only two African-Americans at Brown in 1915 and the first to live on campus. 38. He was a theater agent, booking African-Americans in clubs across New York City. NFL's first Black coach Fritz Pollard faced racial discrimination Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. "The narrative we are dealing with here is very close to the narrative FritzPollard dealtwith 100 years ago.". How to get into American football a sport for all shapes and sizes that requires both mental and physical skills. One opposing school'sfans would sing "Bye Bye Blackbird"when his grandfathercame on the field, Towns said. Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. Pollard, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, died in 1986. Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard is on the mend. Carolinas Christian McCaffrey is the only back ranked in the top 15 also averaging fewer than four yards per carry. Nonetheless, in the opening week of the NFL season, there were four black head coaches, one black general manager and nine black starting quarterbacks. Will Cowboys franchise tag Tony Pollard? Here are 4 reasons why they should But not all teams were integrated until Bobby Mitchell joined the Washington (Commanders) in 1962. is tony pollard related to fritz pollard - cleanworld.com Both he and Halas were at that meeting of team owners in 1933, when Marshall pitched the idea of banning black players. Against all these handicaps, Fritz Pollard plays with dauntless spirit. There was one Black head coach in the NFL in 1921. It was a German-immigrant part of town. Cowboys' Tony Pollard disagrees with RB coach on maximum snap load The NFL did not respond to a request for comment on this story. He founded the first African-American investment firm: F.D. "Members of the Akron Pros swear by Pollard," wroteJack Gibbons of The Akron Beacon Journal on Nov.30, 1920. [14], He had 13 carries for 24 yards in his NFL debut in Week 1 against the New York Giants in the 3517 victory. Hundreds of black people were killed by white supremacists. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com. The FPA meets with the NFL formally twice a year to discuss proposals and collate a list of qualified minority candidates ready for interview. When an opposing linebacker greeted Pollard with a deeply offensive racial slur, he responded by waltzing past him and into the end zone. and six touchdowns. In 1916 Pollards outstanding play led Brown to a season of eight victories and one defeat, including wins over both Yale and Harvard. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). But Pollard appears more likely for several reasons. Kansas CIty Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' touchdowns from his biggest games this season ahead of Sunday night's NFL Super Bowl against the. It was really important to us as a family to get that known. After service in World War I, Pollard became head football coach at Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) and began playing professional football for Akron in the informal Ohio League in 1919. 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 . Two days after he suffered a broken left fibula and high ankle sprain in Dallas' 19-12 loss against the San . 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). At his first game, he had to get dressed in the owner's cigar shop and was abused by his own team's fans. He was the son of Fritz Pollard Sr., who also held a few "first" designations, one of which was . 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. This wasn't the first time the team had encountered such prejudice. And they would state this as if it were simply true, end of story. 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. He didn't care to serve Fritz," Gibbons wrote. Aged 21, Pollard was only 5ft 8ins - small for football, even then. It doesn't force any teamto hire a Black head coach. The restaurant comes highly rated, too. Fritz Pollard was born in Chicago in 1894, the seventh of eight children. [2], Pollard accepted a football scholarship from the University of Memphis. He proved me wrong.". They taught Fritz that he could never retaliate, despite the provocation he was sure to face. He became a tax consultant. [7] In the 2018 Birmingham Bowl against Wake Forest, he recorded 318 all-purpose yards (209 on kickoff returns) and one rushing touchdown. As his team returned from one game in Gilberton, the train's windows were shot out. Three years later, the National Football League hired its second black head coach, Arthur "Art" Shell of the Oakland ( California) Raiders. If he is tackled, as many as possible pile on him. When they tell you something that they want to do, listen. 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. It was evident in my first year at Akron back in 1919 that they didnt want blacks in there getting that money, Pollard said. [5] He led the nation with a school-record 40-yard average per kickoff return (22 for 881 yards) and four returns for touchdowns. [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. When he began playing football aged 15 in 1909, he measured 4ft 11ins and weighed 89 pounds. Pollard waited his entire life for a second Black person to be named head coach of an NFL team. He registered 29 receptions for 298 yards (10.3-yard avg. Pollards has been recognized by the Travel Channel as 1 of 10 Memphis BBQ places to visit! Still, some players didn't like that Pollard was playing and they despised even more that he was a star player in the NFL. "You couldn't eat in the restaurants or stay in the hotels," Pollard told the New York Times in 1978. Example video title will go here for this video. 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. All eight of the Pollard children graduated from high school and excelled at athletics or music. His professional career was finally about to begin. He subsequently became the first black running back to ever be selected for the All-American team. He then went to Brown University, majoring in chemistry. In 2022, with the Steelers' Mike Tomlin and recently-named Texans head coach Lovie Smith, that percentage is 6.3%. [8], Pollard was considered one of the best kickoff return specialists in college football, tying a FBS record with seven career kick-return touchdowns, 87 kickoff returns (second in school history), 2,616 kickoff return yards (second in school history), 30.1 kick-return average (school record) and 4,680 all-purpose yards (second in school history).
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