One of the very first black players in Professional football. Fredrick Douglass Pollard, know as “Fritz” Pollard was an All-American running back (as well as the first black player) at Brown University. Pollard was a member of the 1920 Brown Bruins team that played in the 1916 Rose Bowl against Washington State.
After studying as a dentist and serving in the Army during World War I, Pollard joined the Akron Pros of the American Professional Football Association in 1920. The APFA would later become the NFL. His first season he was named to the All-Pro Team to an Akron team that won the championship.
He stayed involved in the professional football of that era until the 1930s both as a coach and a player. After football he enjoyed a successful career in business with an investment firm and also in the entertainment world as a producer and manager. He was named to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2005.
For a really good article on Fritz Pollard read Fritz Pollard: A Forgotten Trailblazer
