When discussing integration of the National Football League, much is made of pro football’s “reintegration,” when the NFL –in 1946 – opted to end a ban on black players it instituted in 1933.
But years before the circuit decided to incorporate segregation into its business model, Frederick Douglass “Fritz” Pollard was already breaking down barriers.
And he never stopped.
Pollard – along with Bobby Marshall – was one of the first two African-American players to earn roster spots in the American Professional Football Association, the forerunner of the NFL.
Pollard was also the first black coach in NFL history, and after his playing/coaching days were done, he became a successful business leader and entertainment manager.
Pollard was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Charles Follis is believed to be the first African-American professional football player, starring for the Shelby (Ohio) Blues from 1904 to 1911.
And before Pollard, there was also Doc Baker (Akron Indians, 1906-08 and 1911); Henry McDonald (1911-17, Rochester Jeffersons); and Gideon Smith, who suited up one game for the Canton Bulldogs in 1915.
In fact, Marshall played pro ball in Minnesota from 1913-17 and again in 1919, and technically was the first African-American athlete to participate in an APFA game when he suited up for Rock Island on September 26, 1920. Although the contest came against a non-league opponent – the independent St. Paul Ideals – it ultimately counted in the final APFA standings and thus considered an “NFL game.”
Pollard, however, built on the accomplishments of those who came before him and carved out his own legacy.
A 5-9, 165-pound halfback who played for Brown University and helped the team to a 1916 Rose Bowl appearance, he was the first black player to earn Walter Camp All-America Team honors.
After coaching college ball and serving in World War I, he was signed to a pro contract on November 5, 1919. (The Akron Indians were in the process of upgrading from semi-pro to APFA membership, and would change their nickname to the Akron Pros in 1920).
The headline on the front page of the Akron Evening Times on November 6, 1919, read, “Fritz Pollard, Greatest Of Present Day Grid Stars, To Play With Indians Sunday.”
A day later in a preview of the game with the Massillon Tigers, the paper described Pollard this way: “Weighing only 145 pounds, Pollard is the fastest man in moleskins today. He is not only fast, but is a wonder on picking his holes in the line and the greatest open field runner the game has ever known.”
Akron fell to Massillon, 13-6, with Pollard getting the losing team’s lone touchdown. Still, he was considered the star of the game.
“Fritz Pollard, playing for the first time with the Indians, did remarkable work,” according to a piece in The Akron Beacon on November 10. “His efforts were the bright features of the afternoon’s entertainment. In running back punts, he was sensational. While from the backfield position he carried the ball many times for long gains.
“ … Pollard made his gains without any protection whatever. He was either too fast for interference or the formations were loosely ran. Had Pollard been given a cleared way to his end runs he would have likely turned the tide of victory.”
As you might imagine, Pollard had issues to deal with off the field.
“When I got to Akron, the town was filled with thousands of Southerners who had come up to work in the factories during World War I,” Pollard told the Staten Island Advance for an April 11, 1978 story. “They told me I couldn’t even change in the locker room. The guy who owned the club also owned a cigar store. That’s where I changed my clothes. I couldn’t even stay in a decent hotel.”
But thanks to his exploits on the field, Pollard was hard to ignore.
“I went out and beat Canton for them,” Pollard said. “Canton was the big rival – they had Jim Thorpe. By the end of the year, I was in that locker room. The next season, I was coaching the team.”
In 1920 the Pros won the league title with an 8-0-3 record, and Pollard led the charge with 24 points – second in the league. In 1921 he was named co-coach and also managed to score seven touchdowns and amass an APFA-best 42 points.
“Elgie Tobin was listed as the coach, but when I came, they were still using some old plays,” Pollard said in an interview with The New York Times in 1978. “So, I said why don’t we try some of the stuff we had been doing at Brown. The owner, Frank Neid, told everybody if they didn’t want to listen to me, they could leave right then.”
Mixing in playing and coaching, Pollard worked with the Pros as well as the Milwaukee Badgers, Hammond Pros and Providence Steam Roller.
After exiting the NFL in 1926, Pollard formed the Chicago Black Hawks, an all-African American team that played exhibition games against Midwest teams and, during the winter, West Coast clubs.
When he finally hung up his whistle and pads, he did everything from tax consulting to film and music production. He also published the New York Independent News from 1935-42; it was the first black-owned tabloid in the city’s history.
So, while Pollard ultimately left his footprints everywhere, his cleat marks also made an indelible mark.
“When the Pros offered me a contract to play in Akron, there were only a few other blacks in the league. But they paid me $500, because that was my price.
“I know people had no right to judge me by anything but my character, and that’s the way I judged them. Look, the people who made it toughest when I got to Akron were the ones who were sorriest when I finally decided to leave.”
