They had to cut to a commercial and then my phone just blew up with people saying 'they're talking about your grandfather'.". He was the seventh of eight children born to a Native American mother and an African American father. 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. 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. Latest on Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard including news, stats, videos, highlights and more on ESPN Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, middle, is carted off the field during the 19-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He made up for it at Memphis' pro day by clocking in at a 4.37. "When he was six years old, he said 'Mom, I'm going to the NFL.' [24] In Week 8, against Chicago, Pollard had 13 carries for 141 yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 4929 win, and was named Ground Player of the Week. 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. They knew he'd be targeted because of his size and skin colour. 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. [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 banwas made official in 1934 at the height of the Great Depression when NFL team owners agreed to forbid any Black players in the league. . Yet, Solomon said, Black men still aren't given equal opportunity to coach the teams they, perhaps, played for. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Pollard's BBQ is back open on Sundaysbut you better have your Cowboys gear on. He had two returns for touchdown and was named the American Athletic Conference's Special Teams Player of the Year. As well as being a running back, he was a defensive back, receiver, kicker, punt returner and kick-off returner. Early years [ edit] Running back Tony Pollard was not present during the open-to-media portion of the workout, a source telling CowboysSI.com that that the absence is non related to injury. ", "I will never tell a child again to sit down. [19] In Week 15 against the San Francisco 49ers, Pollard recorded 132 yards from scrimmage and two rushing touchdowns during the 4133 win. Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard is on the mend. When the Los Angeles Raiders hired Art Shell as head coach in 1989, he was asked in a live broadcast how it felt to be the NFL's first black coach. Two days after he suffered a broken left fibula and high ankle sprain in Dallas' 19-12 loss against the San . That achievement speaks volumes, because like Dallas, Memphis is known for some good BBQ. His mother was Native American, his father an African American who boxed professionally during the Civil War. And of the 12-year absence of blacks from the league from 1934 to 1946, Halas would say, Probably the game didnt have the appeal to black players at the time.. As long as were winning, everything is fine, Pollard said after Sundays 20-17 victory. His brothers decided they had to toughen him up. Pollard got all of 13 carries and turned it into 109 yards, his second biggest day as a pro. There was one Black head coach in the NFL in 1921 when a tiny, incrediblyfast running back named Fritz Pollard was hired to coach theAkron Pros at the same time he played for the team. Get the latest news. Hes quicker. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Author of. Todd Brock. He didn't get to see it. Fritz Pollard made history as NFL's first black coach and quarterback. He also played for the Milwaukee Badgers, Hammond Pros, Gilberton Cadamounts, Union Club of Phoenixville and Providence Steam Roller. Yet he welcomed Pollard with a highly abusive racial slur, saying he was going to kill him. Pollard asked to run the play twice more and scored two more touchdowns. Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). That'sjust the way the times were back then," Pollard would say. Pollard was the only Akron player named in the All-Pro side, but when the team received their championship trophy, he wasn't invited. More than 12,000 people came out to Wrigley to see a much-hyped contest that ended in a scoreless tie. His is a story for too long left untold. He was 65. 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. 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. 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. Updates? The US summer of 1919 was known as the Red Summer. He also worked as director of an army YMCAand coached football at Lincoln University. "It's terribly ironic that we live in a time that Fritz Pollard's own coaching experience in the NFL isn't really that different from today," said Aron Solomon, chief legal analyst with Today's Esquire, which provides comprehensive legal analysis on news stories of the day. Mother Amanda was a respected seamstress while father John was a successful businessman. I'd rather watch him do it.". 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. In 1921, Pollard became the league's first black coach and in 1923 its first black quarterback. And here I was, playing and coaching and pulling down the highest salary in pro football. Halas and Pollard had both grown up in Chicago and knew each other from high school. [18], Pollard continued his role as a backup to Ezekiel Elliott to go along with some kickoff return duties in the 2020 season. 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. "This is a man who paved the way, who showed there is hope. I never saw him angry.". Is Dallas becoming unaffordable due to rising housing costs, inflation and stagnating pay? 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. ", Glittering drama based on the audacious Brinks-Mat security depot heist, A corrupt copper and a Leeds gangster are bound together by decades of dishonesty. There have been500 head coaches in the NFL's history 24 of them have been Black. There are three awards in his name at Brown and in the 1970s, when his grandson Fritz III played football there, a local shop owner refused to take his money and said: "My father took me to see your grandfather play. If someone can slug him without the referee seeing him, it is done. He managed the Suntan Movie Studio in Harlem. But he combated such treatment with tricks he learned from his brothers. At his first game, he had to get dressed in the owner's cigar shop and was abused by his own team's fans. As a football player, entertainment promoter and social activist, Pollard might have applauded the leagues partnership with Jay-Z and his entertainment company to use musical events to build community relations. I said 'No you're not, sit down.' Pollard's wins above replacement also ranks third in the NFL, behind Jacobs and Nick Chubb. In 1921, Pollard was made player-coach and finished as the league's top scorer. 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. Getty Images. Pollard's legacy lives on through his grandson Fritz D Pollard III (and children Meredith Pollard Russell and Marcus Pollard) his other grandson Dr Stephen Towns and granddaughter Stephanie Towns. "No cabins were provided, nor were they given a place to sleep after reaching Hampton. and six touchdowns. Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. He wasn't just a star football player and coach. [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. NFL to consider rule change after RB injury. When Pollard comes in, the defense focuses on the passing game. He touched the ball on 16 of his 21 snaps Sunday. Surrounded by family and BBQ. With his last words, spoken to his family in 2003, he said:. As he recalled the song in his final interview with Berry before his death in 1986, tears rolled down his cheek. They lost the game through lack of rest." According to Sports Info Solutions, only Josh Jacobs and Aaron Jones have a higher EPA generated per rushing attempt than Pollard. 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. Subjects: Do you find this information helpful? Pollards has been recognized by the Travel Channel as 1 of 10 Memphis BBQ places to visit! "Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the '40s," says Pollard's grandson, Fritz Pollard III. The Pollards were well known in Rogers Park, a suburb on the north side of Chicago. 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. Reasons and Patrick, "Pollard Set Records as Black Football Player, Coach". 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. Many credit Pollard and Jim Thorpe with saving the fledgling league as it struggled to compete with baseball and boxing. 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. The Yale supporters also turned 'Bye Bye Blackbird', a popular song of the day, into a racially abusive anthem. Its a safe bet that Elliotts numbers will go up, and that he will eventually get so many more chances than Pollard that he will pass him in yards. At the hotel, Assistant Coach Bill Sprackling demanded to see the manager. It was named the Rooney Rule after Dan Rooney, former owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who at the time was chairman of the NFL's diversity committee. In the second quarter of the Cowboys-49ers divisional matchup, the Cowboys running back had his left ankle trapped underneath a . They also threatened not to play when he was denied a room in LA. and 30 carries for 230 yards (7.7-yard avg.) After his playing career, he'd moved to New York with the Harlem Renaissance still in full swing and had become a talent agent, booking black entertainers for films and white nightclubs. From there, Black players joined the league and began dominating on the field. It's kind of weird to say, but I. He coached and managed all-black teams in exhibition games, giving them a chance to showcase their talent. "After I told them about the historically black newspapers, a guy in Mississippi called back and said 'did you know your grandfather averaged hundreds of yards a game?' In 1919, as more than 25 race riots erupted in major U.S. cities, Fritz Pollard, a former Brown University All-American running back, joined the Akron Pros, a pro football team that would later become a charter member of the NFL.