Role Coach Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) Weight 75 kg | 1921 Akron Pros Positions Halfback Name Fritz Pollard | |
 | ||
Date of birth (1894-01-27)January 27, 1894 Date of death May 11, 1986(1986-05-11) (aged 92) Died May 11, 1986, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Education Brown University, Lane Technical College Prep High School | ||
Fritz pollard male coach of the year
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. Football pioneer Walter Camp ranked Pollard as "one of the greatest runners these eyes have ever seen."
Contents
- Fritz pollard male coach of the year
- Jamal s view of fritz pollard wmv
- Early life
- Later life
- Honors and legacy
- References
Jamal s view of fritz pollard wmv
Early life
Pollard was born in Chicago on January 27, 1894. He attended Albert Grannis Lane Manual Training High School, also known as "Lane Tech," where he played football, baseball, and ran track. Pollard attended Brown University, majoring in chemistry. Pollard played half-back on the Brown football team, which went to the 1916 Rose Bowl. He was the first black football player at Brown. He became the first black running back to be named to the Walter Camp All-America team.
He later played pro 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, Union Club of Phoenixville and Providence Steam Roller. Some sources indicate that Pollard also served as co-coach of the Milwaukee Badgers with Budge Garrett 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 black 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-black barnstorming teams, including the Chicago Black Hawks in 1928 and the Harlem Brown Bombers in the 1930s.
Pollard coached Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)'s football team during the 1918 to 1920 seasons and served as athletic director of the school's World War I era Students' Army Training Corps. During 1918–1919, he led the team to a victorious season defeating Howard University's Bisons 13-0 in the annual Thanksgiving classic as well as Hampton (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. Paul Robeson was enlisted by Lincoln's alumni to coach the Thanksgiving 1920 game against Howard.
Pollard later 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.
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, and The Wanderers. Pollard also published the first black-owned newspaper in New York City, the New York Independent News, from 1935 to 1942.