Fritz Pollard
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| Position: | Halfback | ||
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| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth: | January 27, 1894 | ||
| Place of birth: | Chicago, Illinois | ||
| Date of death: | May 11, 1986 (aged 92) | ||
| Place of death: | Silver Spring, Maryland | ||
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Weight: | 165 lb (75 kg) | ||
| Career information | |||
| High school: | Chicago (IL) Lane Tech | ||
| College: | Brown | ||
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| Player stats at NFL.com |
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."
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.
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