Fritz Pollard
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| Fritz Pollard | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | January 27, 1894 |
| Place of birth | Chicago |
| Date of death | May 11, 1986 |
| Position(s) | Running back Head Coach |
| College | Brown |
| Honors | College Football HOF |
| Career Record | 8-4-1 |
| Playing Stats | DatabaseFootball |
| Coaching Stats | DatabaseFootball |
| Team(s) as a player | |
| 1919-1921 1922 1923 1923-1924 1925 1925 1925-1926 |
Akron Pros Milwaukee Badgers Hammond Pros Gilberton Cadamounts Providence Steam Roller Milwaukee Badgers Akron Pros/Indians |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1919 1925 |
Akron Pros Hammond Pros |
| College Hall of Fame | |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2005 | |
Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was the first African American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard along with Bobby Marshall were the first two African American players in the NFL in 1920. Pollard graduated from Lane Tech high school in Chicago where he ran track. Pollard played college football at Brown University and later played professional football with the Akron Pros, the team he would lead to the NFL (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.
He also played for the Milwaukee Badgers, Hammond Pros, Gilberton Cadamounts, and Providence Steam Roller. In 1928, Pollard organized and coached the Chicago Black Hawks, an all-African American professional team. The Black Hawks played against white teams around Chicago, but enjoyed their greatest success by scheduling exhibition games against West Coast teams during the winter months.
Pollard was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
Some sources indicate that Pollard also served as co-coach of the Milwaukee Badgers with Al Garrett for part of the 1922 season. He also coached the non NFL team Gilberton in 1923 and is believed to have had some coaching duties with Hammond in 1923 as well.
In 2005, Pollard was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
[edit] Trivia
- Pollard's son Frederick Pollard, Jr. won the bronze medal for 110 m hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
- A group promoting minority hiring throughout the NFL is named for Pollard, the Fritz Pollard Alliance
