When he showed up for football practice that September, none of the players wanted him on the team. He also played for the Milwaukee Badgers, Hammond Pros, Gilberton Cadamounts, Union Club of Phoenixville and Providence Steam Roller. He was the first African American selected to a backfield position on Walter Camps All-America team (1916) and the first African American head coach in the National Football League (NFL), with the Akron Pros in 1921. As his team returned from one game in Gilberton, the train's windows were shot out. 1. [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. In his seven-year pro career, Pollard played for four NFL teams plus two in rival leagues in Pennsylvania. "That's the only way you can come in," Torria Pollard, the mother of Dallas running back Tony Pollard, said with a laugh. Since Pollard got here in 2019, he has 10 runs of 20 yards or more in 203 carries about one every 20 rushing attempts. That'sjust the way the times were back then," Pollard would say. He left Memphis as one of the most accomplish kick returners in NCAA history. His white teammates had high respect for Pollard and often stuck up for him as he faced discrimination. As a senior, he was a two-way starter at wide receiver and cornerback on the high school football team. 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. [5] He led the nation with a school-record 40-yard average per kickoff return (22 for 881 yards) and four returns for touchdowns. 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. He wanted the trails he blazed to change the future of the NFL. Pollard's team won most of those games, said Towns. With the US in the depths of the Great Depression and millions of white people unemployed, he argued that paying black men to play football would be bad for business. The Life And Career Of Steve Sabol (Story), The Fascinating Life Of Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder (Story), What Happened To NFL Referee Mike Carey? Their move north had paid off. 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. I was never interested in socializing with whites. "God had gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my person goals," Flores said in a statement. Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves and say, 'Is this real? 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. "My son is on TV playing for the Cowboys? During high school Pollard was actually a better baseball player, but he knew he wouldn't be able to progress. Updates? He subsequently became the first black running back to ever be selected for the All-American team. [20] Overall, he appeared in all 16 games, of which he started two, in the 2020 season. "Hammond and Milwaukee were bad, but never as bad as Akron. 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. He never played quarterback again. Black players began dominatingthe NFL. "I kind of love it. He played and coached when, despite being the highest paid player in the league $1,500 a game he wasn't allowed to dresswith his team. Courtesy of Brown University, Providence, R.I. (1894-1986). "And it's not even close.". In his freshman year, he was the only black player in the Ivy League and Brown's win over Yale saw them earn an invite to the Rose Bowl in January 1916. He had waited65 years from his hiringas an NFL coach to see if he had pioneered a change. His teammates took a stand. His three older brothers all played the game and felt black players could do well - if they adhered to an unwritten code of conduct. 3: See photos from DeSoto's Class 6A state semifinal win over Pearland, A day after powerful thunderstorms, North Texas surveys the damage, 3 children killed, 2 wounded at Ellis County home; suspect in custody, How a Texas districts reaction to school shooting fears highlights discipline concerns, Carrollton man advertised pills on social media to entice teens to buy fentanyl, feds say. [4], As a sophomore, he posted 36 receptions for 536 yards (14.9-yard avg.) The Dallas Cowboys selected Tony Pollard in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard was born on January 27, 1894 in Chicago. Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). Three years later, the National Football League hired its second black head coach, Arthur "Art" Shell of the Oakland ( California) Raiders. . In that same time frame, Zeke has nine in 572 carries about one every 63 rushing attempts. They lost the game through lack of rest." 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. As we head into the Super Bowl, here are 10 amazing facts on the incredible journey of Fritz Pollard, one of the first African-American players to play professional football and also the first to become a head coach. The Yale supporters also turned 'Bye Bye Blackbird', a popular song of the day, into a racially abusive anthem. Zeke is 25th in rushing and averaging 3.9 per carry. The restaurant comes highly rated, too. Coming out of the Reconstruction era which followed the American Civil War, the Pollards wanted to live free from the racial oppression of segregation laws in the south and had moved from Oklahoma in 1886. His brother Terrion now carries on the family tradition, working with his dad at Pollard's. In 2022, with the Steelers' Mike Tomlin and recently-named Texans head coach Lovie Smith, that percentage is 6.3%. When Pollard comes in, the defense focuses on the passing game. From there, Black players joined the league and began dominating on the field. "We thought that meant the NFL was out tohire more Black head coaches. [16] During Week 15 against the Los Angeles Rams, Pollard finished with 131 rushing yards on 12 attempts, including a 44-yard touchdown as the Cowboys won 4421. And yet, still very few NFL fans have even heard of Pollard. It was the best game I'd ever seen.". "And it has been discouraging to see that in the last three hiring cycles of head coaches, things have not been much different. There are twoBlack head coachesin the NFL in 2022. Pollard played and coached at a time when restaurants wouldn't serve him and hotels shunned him. [1] He helped the team reach the playoffs, while making over 1,200 receiving yards, 20 touchdowns and being named All-District 16-AAA. 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. Pollard's magic on the field created a following for the NFL. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, Stand with us in our mission to discover and uncover the story of North Texas, Its time to face facts, Tony Pollard is the most dangerous RB in the Cowboys backfield, 10 truths from Cowboys win: From Parsons to Pollard, playmakers are popping up everywhere in Dallas, The Cowboys are closer than you think to a total makeover at running back, Why Rangers cautious approach with pitchers in spring training could still be risky, Jerry Jones talks Dak Prescotts Tom Brady-esque qualities and more from the NFL combine, Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving duos on-the-fly rapport gets test from Kevin Durant, Suns, A week after torching the Stars, Max Domi joins Dallas in its march toward the playoffs, UIL boys basketball playoffs (6A): Tre Johnson, Lake Highlands shine; DeSoto defense rises, 2023 UIL girls state basketball: Schedule, previews and more for Dallas-area teams, 2023 UIL girls basketball state tournament pairings: See schedule for semifinal matchups, 2023 UIL boys basketball regional tournament pairings: See schedule for Dallas-area teams, All eyes on No. It was Halas, who in 1922, suggested to the other owners that the name of the league be changed from the American Professional Football Association to the National Football League. Pollard attended Melrose High School, where he played high school football. Pollard wanted the same thing. The Rooney Rule, however, doesn't require hiring of Black coaches, only interviewing them, said Solomon. The 5-9, 165-pound back, who led Brown to the Rose Bowl in 1915, turned pro in 1919, when he joined the Akron (OH) Pros following army service during World War I. Im wondering what it will be this week after Elliott was good against the Chargers and Pollard was great. Halas was the greatest foe of Black football players, Pollard told a reporter in 1971, adding that Halas helped start the ball rolling that eventually led to the barring of blacks from professional football in 1933., While Halas dismissed the notion that he was racist, he wouldnt draft a black player until 1949 when he took George Taliaferro out of Indiana, the first African American to be drafted by an NFL team. But he combated such treatment with tricks he learned from his brothers. He was a theater agent, booking African-Americans in clubs across New York City. He also saw how it changed between then. To settle who was the real champion, Halas reached out to Pollard to arrange a game between the Staleys and the Pros in Chicago. In the 1930s, Pollard founded his own professional football team, the Brown Bombers. Pollard was the only Akron player named in the All-Pro side, but when the team received their championship trophy, he wasn't invited. For his son, the Olympic hurdler, see. It didn't end until the Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington in 1946, and the NFL wasn't fully reintegrated until 1962. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Be the smartest Cowboys fan. [22] In Week 5, against the New York Giants, Pollard totaled 103 scrimmage yards in the 4420 victory. 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. USA TODAY NFL insider Mike Jones breaks down former Miami Dolphins' head coach Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL, Giants and Dolphins. follow. Yet, Pollard's humble, quiet ways never changed. "My dad was a single parent, and when he wasn't working all the hours he did it was phone call after phone call, meeting after meeting, trying to get my great-grandfather's name out there.". The former Memphis standout is currently earning a base salary of $965,000 while carrying a cap charge of $1.131 million, via Spotrac. It's kind of weird to say, but I love it," Terrion said. Pollard grew up in Rogers Park, a community area on the north side of Chicago, Ill. In 1919, he signed on to play for the Akron Pros in the American Professional Football Association, which was renamed the NFL in 1922. When owners colluded to shut black players out of the league from 1934 to 1946, Pollard used the pages of a newspaper that he started after his retirement to press for change. Halas is a name rightfully synonymous with the founding of the NFL. But I was there to play football. As a redshirt freshman, he appeared in 13 games, of which he started seven. If someone can slug him without the referee seeing him, it is done. They had some prejudiced people there. He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft . 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. Fritz III says his grandfather felt there were two reasons why he wasn't voted into the Hall of Fame during his lifetime: George Halas and George Preston Marshall. [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. The rule is named for former Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who chaired the league's diversity committee. "He was at a game and they thought he was a mascot because he was so tiny," she said. More than 12,000 people came out to Wrigley to see a much-hyped contest that ended in a scoreless tie. Born Frederick Douglass Pollard in 1894 - after the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass - his nickname Fritz reflected Rogers Park's predominantly German make-up. Jan 12, 2023. Marshall was an avowed segregationist who owned the Washington football franchise from its inception in 1932 to his death in 1969. Two of the oldest teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears, who opened this years season on Thursday night, were all-white when they first met. Subjects: Do you find this information helpful? He played professional football with the Akron Pros, the team he would lead to the APFA championship in 1920. Yet the next summer Denver held quarterback meetings without him and he asked to be released. Pollard was carted to the X-ray room with an air cast on his leg. Speaking of food, the running back's family owns a restaurant called "Pollard's BBQ" located in Memphis. Mother Amanda was a respected seamstress while father John was a successful businessman. NFL to consider rule change after RB injury. "The big contrast now is absolutely how crazy big the NFL is as a business, billions and billions of dollars," he said. ", In February 2021, Dungywrote an open letter to NFL ownersabout the league's lack of minority hires. As he faced criticism and discrimination, Pollard didn't fight back, not off the field. 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). After Pollard, the second black starting quarterback was Marlin Briscoe in 1968. When they tell you something that they want to do, listen. Pollard waited his entire life for a second Black person to be named head coach of an NFL team. He didn't care to serve Fritz," Gibbons wrote. Pollard established theNew York Independent News, the first weekly black tabloid. During 19181919, he led the team to a victorious season defeating Howard University's Bisons 130[5] in the annual Thanksgiving classic as well as Hampton University (70) on November 9, 1918, and teams of military recruits at Camp Dix (190) on November 2, 1918,[6] and Camp Upton (410). At that time, black players were banned from the sport. After escaping slavery, he had fought for the Union during the Civil War. It's kind of weird to say, but I. It would be almost half a century until the NFL next had a black starting quarterback. Tony Pollard broke his left . He made up for it at Memphis' pro day by clocking in at a 4.37. 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". All the while, he faced death threats from students and opposing teams. That is a heavy, heavy workload, and if there is one thing I give head coach Mike McCarthy credit for, its understanding this. In his second, he faced future Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe. He also founded an all-black football team in Harlem that was unsuccessful in luring local NFL teams to play exhibition games. But not all teams were integrated until Bobby Mitchell joined the Washington (Commanders) in 1962. [10], Fritz also coached the Gilberton Cadamounts, a non-NFL team. They taught Fritz that he could never retaliate, despite the provocation he was sure to face. "Fritz Pollards skin is black. At the hotel, Assistant Coach Bill Sprackling demanded to see the manager. 0:00. Some sources indicate that Pollard also served as co-coach of the Milwaukee Badgers with Budge Garrett for part of the 1922 season. Pollard and Thorpe were pro football's highest-paid players, the main attractions. 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. 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. They had to cut to a commercial and then my phone just blew up with people saying 'they're talking about your grandfather'.". He is the sonof a despised race. 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. While Brown lost the Rose Bowl 14-0 to Washington State,it was a historic game. 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). That's how good the 5-9 Pollard was. Halas and Pollard had both grown up in Chicago and knew each other from high school. One of his team-mates, Irving Fraser, later told Pollard's biographer Jay Berry: "When he was tackled, they'd all pile on him and see if they could make him quit. He proved me wrong.". said his grandson Dr. Stephen Towns, a dentist in Indianapolis. In 1954 Pollard became the second African American selected to the College Football Hall of Fame. The No. Pollard felt that he never received the credit or recognition for his contributions to the early years of the NFL. Updated January 24, 2023 3:22 PM. Hes 17th in the league in rushing on just 16 carries, but his 7.7 average is the best among all running backs with at least three carries. . 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. (I'd) just look at themand grin, and the next minute run 80 yards for a touchdown.". [17] Overall, in his rookie season, he finished with 86 carries for 455 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with 15 receptions for 107 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. They also threatened not to play when he was denied a room in LA. Read about our approach to external linking. Reality television is a place where anything and everything is on the table. "The first was Fritz Pollard. Reasons and Patrick, "Pollard Set Records as Black Football Player, Coach". Now the family shop is where Tony's family and friends gather to cheer him on. He also went on to become the second Black player named to Walter Camp's All-American team. Only 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 metres) and 150 pounds (68 kg), Pollard won the grudging acceptance of his teammates at Brown University in Rhode Island in 1915, leading the team to a victory over Yale and an invitation to the Tournament of Roses game in Pasadena, California. As long as were winning, everything is fine, Pollard said after Sundays 20-17 victory. He was the school's first black athlete a triple threat when it came to sports in football, track and boxing. [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). 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. The next year, he was named co-head coach as he continued to play for the Pros. Fritz was gifted with speed and elusiveness but he was small. Since that letter, Dungy says"not a lot has changed. 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. It doesn't force any teamto hire a Black head coach. ), 39 receptions for 458 yards (11.7-yard avg. IE 11 is not supported. 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. 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. He called the team Redskins in 1933, a racial slur that was only dropped in July this year amid mounting pressure. It was really important to us as a family to get that known. 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 . 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. They believe that Black head coaches are not fit to be leaders of men.". "When he was six years old, he said 'Mom, I'm going to the NFL.' In 1923, while playing for the Hammond Pros, he became the first African American quarterback in the league. 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. 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. Pollard left a legacy no one would soon forget in his years at UND. I dont know what guidance, if any, he gives offensive coordinator Kellen Moore when it comes to using his two backs. Bleacher crowds and outside towns jeerhim and taunthim about his color," read anarticle in the Akron Evening Times December 5, 1920. Hes quicker. At one game, a competitor started mocking Pollard's curly hair. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Pollard ended his playing career in 1926, aged 32. Pollard becamethe first Black man to play in the Rose Bowl. https://t.co/5repnhdcW4. [19] In Week 15 against the San Francisco 49ers, Pollard recorded 132 yards from scrimmage and two rushing touchdowns during the 4133 win. Pollard, 25, has assumed a big role in 2022 as he preps for free agency. Discover short videos related to tony pollard throne on TikTok. As well as being a running back, he was a defensive back, receiver, kicker, punt returner and kick-off returner. Florence Griffith Joyner Jackie Joyner-Kersee Wilma Rudolph Althea Gibson. Pollard then signed with the NFL's Akron Pros, whom he led to a championship in his rookie season. I said 'yeah, I know, that's what I've been telling you'.". Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com. Pollard had died just three years before, at the age of 92, but so many people were only hearing his name for the first time. That achievement speaks volumes, because like Dallas, Memphis is known for some good BBQ. Your essential guide to Super Bowl 57 as the Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles in Arizona for the NFL championship. Today, SI looks back on the legacy of Fritz Pollard. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. 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. "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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Fritz Pollard, byname of Frederick Douglass Pollard, Sr., (born January 27, 1894, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.died May 11, 1986, Silver Spring, Maryland), pioneering African American player and coach in American collegiate and professional gridiron football. I was there to play football and make my money.. As a player-coach and later a fierce private advocate for black advancement in the game, Pollard never backed down to this authority. 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. "They couldn't find anything so I said 'you're looking in the wrong papers'," says Fritz III. It's cheaper. It's a game thatalmost didn't happen. Here's the latest on Pollard's injury: Tony Pollard injury update. None of this is meant to discredit Elliott. Is Dallas becoming unaffordable due to rising housing costs, inflation and stagnating pay? ), 31 carries for 159 yards (5.1-yard avg.) "At certain times, we were struggling ourselves as parents, just trying to do for the kids and the family," she said. Be the smartest Cowboys fan. "The NFL has one fundamental beliefabout Black coaches. Henry had 35 carries in the Titans overtime win and Cook ran 22 times in defeat at Arizona. Hundreds of black people were killed by white supremacists. Halas was involved with the Chicago Bears from their creation in 1920 until his death in 1983, first as a player, then coach and team owner. Its possible the head coach simply believes that. 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. degree on Pollard, recognizing his achievements as athlete and leader. [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. 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. It was one of many measures he'd take to avoid being targeted, verbally and physically, by fans and players alike, across the game's heartland of the American Northeast and Midwest. "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.". The opposing teams gave me hell too.". In 1917 he enlisted in the army, serving as a physical director in Maryland while coaching at the all-black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Then a fateful meeting took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pollard himself was now in the factory town of Akron, Ohio. In 1920, with Pollard leading the team, the Pros went undefeated (8-0-3) to win the league's first championship. Fritz Pollard blazed a trail as the first Black coach in the NFL. "If somebody were to ask Fritz Pollard, 'What do you think 100 years from now it's going to be like in the National Football League?'" They knew he'd be targeted because of his size and skin colour. And they would state this as if it were simply true, end of story. Pollard wouldn't have to dodge the spotlight for long. Torria and Tarrance Pollard made sure Tony and his older brother Terrion had every opportunity to succeed on the field, even if that meant expensive camps and training. 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.
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