"The big contrast now is absolutely how crazy big the NFL is as a business, billions and billions of dollars," he said. During high school Pollard was actually a better baseball player, but he knew he wouldn't be able to progress. Pollard was not the first black athlete paid to play football, but he was the first to star in the confederation of Midwestern franchises that became the National Football League. "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?'" There have been500 head coaches in the NFL's history 24 of them have been Black. At the hotel, Assistant Coach Bill Sprackling demanded to see the manager. For his son, the Olympic hurdler, see. It was named one of the 10 best BBQ restaurants in the city of Memphis by the Travel Channel. I said 'yeah, I know, that's what I've been telling you'.". "Times got hard, he let me skip a payment here, skip a payment there and train them anyway," Tarrance said. Fritz Pollard, the NFL's first African-American head coach, was a true pioneer of the sport. "Fritz Pollards skin is black. But not all teams were integrated until Bobby Mitchell joined the Washington (Commanders) in 1962. I'd rather watch him do it.". In 40 college games, Pollard recorded 941 rushing yards and 1,292 receiving yards. In 1916 Pollards outstanding play led Brown to a season of eight victories and one defeat, including wins over both Yale and Harvard. And, his grandson said, 100 years after Pollard coached in the NFL and 36 years after his death, he is sure Pollard would have wanted more from the league he helped build. He wanted the trails he blazed to change the future of the NFL. He attended Albert G. Lane Manual Training High School in Chicago where he played football, baseballand ran track. Pollard wouldn't have to dodge the spotlight for long. Im wondering what it will be this week after Elliott was good against the Chargers and Pollard was great. He didn't get to see it. He can pad his totals with long runs that Elliott really hasnt been able to accumulate since he burst on the scene as the 2016 rushing champion. Tony Pollard broke his left . "But I'm not," he said. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). "At certain times, we were struggling ourselves as parents, just trying to do for the kids and the family," she said. He spent years defending his accomplishments, believing that the racism of the early years of the league was played down to lessen the impact of his role and to raise the legend of men like Halas, whom he believed was a racist. The Dallas Cowboys selected Tony Pollard in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. 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. Pollard grew up in Rogers Park, a community area on the north side of Chicago, Ill. this year amid mounting pressure. Then in November 1923, after switching teams, he played an entire game at quarterback for the Hammond Pros. It was a German-immigrant part of town. That'sjust the way the times were back then," Pollard would say. Reasons and Patrick, "Pollard Set Records as Black Football Player, Coach". In 2022, with the Steelers' Mike Tomlin and recently-named Texans head coach Lovie Smith, that percentage is 6.3%. He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The Life And Career Of Steve Sabol (Story), The Fascinating Life Of Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder (Story), What Happened To NFL Referee Mike Carey? "My grandfather started playing pro football in 1919. Actually, if defenses should focus on anyone, its Pollard. The same didn't happen in the coaching ranks. 'Feels Like Home:' electrical failure from a light fixture caused December fire that killed 1, Shelby County reporting an increase in drug-related overdoses, largely due to fentanyl, Severe weather threat is over | Prepare for a sunny weekend, Daylight saving time starts soon. He played professional football with the Akron Pros, the team he would lead to the APFA championship in 1920. Then a fateful meeting took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [5] He led the nation with a school-record 40-yard average per kickoff return (22 for 881 yards) and four returns for touchdowns. In 1919, he signed on to play for the Akron Pros in the American Professional Football Association, which was renamed the NFL in 1922. This February, Sports Illustrated is celebrating Black History Month by spotlighting a different iconic athlete every day. Fritz Pollard, the NFL's first African-American head coach, was a true pioneer of the sport. Pollard's wins above replacement also ranks third in the NFL, behind Jacobs and Nick Chubb. Pollard was small, even for. Zeke is 25th in rushing and averaging 3.9 per carry. It doesn't force any teamto hire a Black head coach. 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. 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. In 1923 and 1924, he served as head coach for the Hammond Pros.[2]. "All of us got played by the NFL," he said. [14], He had 13 carries for 24 yards in his NFL debut in Week 1 against the New York Giants in the 3517 victory. Since that letter, Dungy says"not a lot has changed. When they tell you something that they want to do, listen. Two days after he suffered a broken left fibula and high ankle sprain in Dallas' 19-12 loss against the San . In his second, he faced future Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe. That's how good the 5-9 Pollard was. At one game, a competitor started mocking Pollard's curly hair. The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57 on Sunday, 12 February - where is it being played and how to follow on the BBC. It was time for his family to take up the story. 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. Fans started showing up to see what this footballleague was all about. His professional career was finally about to begin. That's because Pollard was an exceptional return man for Memphis. ), ten touchdowns with one kickoff return for a touchdown. 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. It would be almost half a century until the NFL next had a black starting quarterback. Take away his first game as a rookie against the Giants when he had 24 yards on 13 carries (weirdly, Zeke wasnt good in his debut against the Giants, either, in a season where he averaged more than 100 yards per game), and here are Pollards totals when he gets at least 12 carries: The 2021 numbers are skewed because we are only two weeks into the season, but the quality of Pollards start is undeniable. And it wont be a surprise if Pollard stays above 5.0 all season. Since this would be the second consecutive season on . Eventually the hotel relented. It wasan incredible display of solidarity. The Dallas Cowboys selectedTony Pollard in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The No. This year, the NFL is celebrating its 100th season and a heritage that began when 11 teams met on Aug. 20, 1920, in Canton, Ohio, to form the American Professional Football Association. 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. In that same time frame, Zeke has nine in 572 carries about one every 63 rushing attempts. As a player, coach and team owner, he was as important as any single figure in helping to put the league on a course to become the sprawling multibillion-dollar juggernaut that it is today. Get the latest news. If he is tackled, as many as possible pile on him. Pollard asked to run the play twice more and scored two more touchdowns. Some sources indicate that Pollard also served as co-coach of the Milwaukee Badgers with Budge Garrett for part of the 1922 season. ", Tony Dungy, who became the first Black coach to win a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in 2006, said this month the Flores suitmight be "just the tip of the iceberg. Then came a telegram that changed everything. (I'd) just look at themand grin, and the next minute run 80 yards for a touchdown.". Some of the worst violence took place in Pollard's home town of Chicago. Author of. In the second quarter of the Cowboys-49ers divisional matchup, the Cowboys running back had his left ankle trapped underneath a . Pollard died in 1986 at 92, outliving his rival, George Halas, by three years. Against all these handicaps, Fritz Pollard plays with dauntless spirit. Be the smartest Cowboys fan. He didn't care to serve Fritz," Gibbons wrote. He made up for it at Memphis' pro day by clocking in at a 4.37. But he combated such treatment with tricks he learned from his brothers. It is remarkable to watch the hoops that people will jump through, the injuries they will risk to avoid stating the rather obvious fact that Tony Pollard is a better runner than Ezekiel Elliott. Both men are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Corrections? The Pollard family will now have to switch to Cowboys fans now that they have family ties with the team. If the field was a quagmire, his face would be held in the water. 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. He was 65. "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.". Pollard played halfback on the Brown football team, which went to the 1916 Rose Bowl. Todd Brock. Pollard became the second African-American in the College Hall of Fame in 1954. I will not have that," she says. It's a game thatalmost didn't happen. With his last words, spoken to his family in 2003, he said: "Don't forget your quest.". On November 19, 1922, Pollard and Paul Robeson lead the Badgers to victory over the great Jim Thorpe and his Oorang Indians. A year ago when Pollard averaged 4.3 to Zeke's 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 . He had two returns for touchdown and was named the American Athletic Conference's Special Teams Player of the Year. Florence Griffith Joyner Jackie Joyner-Kersee Wilma Rudolph Althea Gibson. They had some prejudiced people there. Growingup, Towns said his grandfather didn't complain or talk much about those trials. [2], Pollard accepted a football scholarship from the University of Memphis. Your email address will not be published. Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here. Everything he learnt from his brothers was about to be put to the test. While Brown lost the Rose Bowl 14-0 to Washington State,it was a historic game. Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. Here are five things Cowboys fans might not know about the running back and special teams ace: Stayed home. Hundreds of black people were killed by white supremacists. In Akron, Pollard became the first black head coach and quarterback in the NFL and the most vocal advocate for black players in the formative years of the league. In 1921, Pollard became the league's first black coach and in 1923 its first black quarterback. The Pollards have been Barbequing for four generations. This should have surprised no one. 38. His three older brothers all played the game and felt black players could do well - if they adhered to an unwritten code of conduct. For this reason the FPA has in recent years been vocal in flagging potential violations of the rule while seeking to enhance 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. "He's the one that taught everybody how to barbeque.". Aged 21, Pollard was only 5ft 8ins - small for football, even then. 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. They believe that Black head coaches are not fit to be leaders of men.". Pollard was carted to the X-ray room with an air cast on his leg. Then they leapt from their chairs, grabbed the waiter and proceeded to artistically maul him until he consented to wait on Pollard. The new owner of a team there had got in touch with him. NFL pioneer Fritz Pollard's life story more relevant than ever Published: Jun 17, 2020 at 05:18 PM Anthony Smith "Fritz Pollard: A Forgotten Man", directed and produced by NFL Network senior. Not the way Solomon believes Pollard might have expected. 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. Segregation laws had been abolished in the northern states, but with many southerners migrating for work in the rubber factories of Ohio and the coal mines of Pennsylvania, he continued to experience racial discrimination almost everywhere he played. The final was 13-0 with Robeson scoring both touchdowns in his finest pro football performance. Subjects: Do you find this information helpful? "And it has been discouraging to see that in the last three hiring cycles of head coaches, things have not been much different. The figure to keep Pollard from becoming a free agent is $10.1 million. The race to compete in Super Bowl 57 is under way - how many winners since 2000 can you name? 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. Pollard's Barber Shop was a popular neighbourhood hang-out and the Pollard boys played football for hours in the local park. Hes quicker. 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. Pollard waited his entire life for a second Black person to be named head coach of an NFL team. He's also caught 39 passes for 337 yards. In 1954 Pollard became the second African American selected to the College Football Hall of Fame. Both he and Halas were at that meeting of team owners in 1933, when Marshall pitched the idea of banning black players. Bleacher crowds and outside towns jeerhim and taunthim about his color," read anarticle in the Akron Evening Times December 5, 1920. Knowing that the NFL would be oneof the biggest businesses in the nation andthat 70% of the players on 32 teams would be Black? When returning kick-offs, he often dived to the floor, leaving the tacklers to collide with each other, before getting back to his feet to continue running. "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. In the 1930s, Pollard founded his own professional football team, the Brown Bombers. 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 has grown tosuch heights of fame that today he is the athlete hero of his race.". 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. . And here I was, playing and coaching and pulling down the highest salary in pro football. He is considered by many observers of the NFL as the first conscience of the game. "And it's not even close.". Pollard tied an NCAA record with seven kickoff returns for touchdowns. "Pollard's Orange and Blue Juggernaut Crushes Camp Dix". His brother Terrion now carries on the family tradition, working with his dad at Pollard's. "I kind of love it. Pollard got all of 13 carries and turned it into 109 yards, his second biggest day as a pro. 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. 0:00. "If you think about everything Pollard fought for,this is the same thing we are fighting today," he said. Still, some players didn't like that Pollard was playing and they despised even more that he was a star player in the NFL. There was one Black head coach in the NFL in 1921. Brown finished with an 8-1 record, with their star player selected in the All-America team. Race riots took place across the country. Pollard established theNew York Independent News, the first weekly black tabloid. 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. Halas is a name rightfully synonymous with the founding of the NFL. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Pollard took the matter into his own hands and created an all-Black football team, the Chicago Black Hawks, in 1928, challengingNFL teams to exhibition games. The following 1920 season was the first for the American Professional Football Association - renamed the NFL in 1922 - and the Akron Pros went undefeated, outscoring their opponents 151-7. For now, getting to the playoffs remains the challenge for this team. "He literally kept the NFL from folding," Towns said. At Brown, Pollard led the Bears to their first and only Rose Bowl appearance. With his last words, spoken to his family in 2003, he said:. Here's the latest on Pollard's injury: Tony Pollard injury update. 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). Many know that Pollard suffered from food poising at the NFL combine. USA TODAY. Instead, it's a box-checking exercise. "For Brown, The Wrong Shoe Was On The Foot In The '16 Rose Bowl Game," by Frank Bianco (Nov. 24, 1980), More Black History Month Pioneers:* Florence Griffith Joyner Smashed Records and Stereotypes* Remembering Satchel Paige, Maybe The Best Pitcher To Ever Live* Paul Robeson Was America's Quintessential Renaissance Man, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. AKA: Sharon K Fritz, Sharon Fritz-Pollard, Sharon K Pollard. When he began playing football aged 15 in 1909, he measured 4ft 11ins and weighed 89 pounds. 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. Pollard's magic on the field created a following for the NFL. "No cabins were provided, nor were they given a place to sleep after reaching Hampton. But the hiring didn't break down barriers. From there, Black players joined the league and began dominating on the field. Read about our approach to external linking. Be the smartest Cowboys fan. They dressed in locker rooms, ate with teammates at restaurants, slept in team hotels and became multi-million-dollar superstars. Gibbons went on to describe an incident that happened atan Akron restaurant as Pollard sat with a group of teammates. Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Yet he welcomed Pollard with a highly abusive racial slur, saying he was going to kill him. He founded two coal delivery companies in Chicago and New York. and six touchdowns. "He wantedto see anotherhe wanted to seemany African American coaches.". He was the son of Fritz Pollard Sr., who also held a few "first" designations, one of which was . 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. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). The Yale supporters also turned 'Bye Bye Blackbird', a popular song of the day, into a racially abusive anthem. 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. [11], Pollard was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round (128th overall) in the 2019 NFL Draft. Teams would take kick-offs short, so that Pollard could be gang-tackled as soon as he received the ball. [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 attended Albert G. Lane Manual Training High School in Chicago, also known as "Lane Tech," where he played football, baseball, and ran track. Carolinas Christian McCaffrey is the only back ranked in the top 15 also averaging fewer than four yards per carry. 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. Frederick Douglass " Fritz " Pollard (January 27, 1894 - May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of NFL Co-Founder Carl Storck (Story), The Life And Career Of Jim Thorpe (Complete Story), Top 20 Most Underrated Coaches In NFL History (Complete List), The Life And Career Of QB Jim Plunkett (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Deion Sanders (Complete Story). The following year Pollard was the star player for the Akron Pros, who won the first NFL championship. Jan 12, 2023. Because my son proved me wrong.". As he walked on, he wouldheartaunts shouted from the stands. 1. That is a heavy, heavy workload, and if there is one thing I give head coach Mike McCarthy credit for, its understanding this. He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft . Pollard felt that he never received the credit or recognition for his contributions to the early years of the NFL. Fritz Pollard, the Brown University halfback, in 1916. "Fans have, perhaps, noticed that after staging one of his brilliant runs for a touchdown he seeks a place of seclusion sometimes even going so far to duck underneath the stands.". Mother Amanda was a respected seamstress while father John was a successful businessman. When Pollard was a rookie in 2019 (and when it wasnt necessarily true), the difference between his 5.3 yards per carry and Zekes 4.5 that season was explained away along these lines and by quite a few different people: When Zeke is in the game, the defense puts eight men in the box. 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. Tony Randall Pollard (born April 30, 1997) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). "(I) didnt get mad and want tofight them. degree on Pollard, recognizing his achievements as athlete and leader. In a 2011 interview with VladTV, Pollard revealed that a third season of her VH1 dating competition series, I Love New York, was scheduled to go into production but got yanked due to . A century later, some say his coaching experience in the league mirrors today's NFL. Pollard suffered a fractured left . Now, the power of his legacy is growing through an organisation that bears his name. He was the seventh of eight children born to a Native American mother and an African American father. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Pollard's BBQ is back open on Sundaysbut you better have your Cowboys gear on. Doyel: 100 years ago, the NFL took its first baby steps in Indiana. "It was bad for white people to come and watch Black people who have jobs.". "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. 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. "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?' 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. When Pollard comes in, the defense focuses on the passing game. Pollard ended his playing career in 1926, aged 32. The Pollards were well known in Rogers Park, a suburb on the north side of Chicago. None of this is meant to discredit Elliott. He was almost always in the game -- as quarterback, running back and often doing punt returns and kickoff returns. "Sometimes they would just pick him up, take him to camp and wouldn't ask for a dime," Torria said. When he was tackled, he'd flip on to his back and pedal his feet in the air to stop opponents piling on to him. He was born Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard. "In making the decision to file the (complaint), I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me. 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. "And the other big difference is that 70% of the players are Black.". Marshall was an avowed segregationist who owned the Washington football franchise from its inception in 1932 to his death in 1969. "We better let him play," the linebacker told the coach. Pollard was one of the first two along with Bobby Marshall African-Americans in the National Football League in 1920. 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. The former Memphis standout is currently earning a base salary of $965,000 while carrying a cap charge of $1.131 million, via Spotrac. There are twoBlack head coachesin the NFL in 2022. But on Thursday night at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, as a sign of how far things have come since Pollards day, 70 percent of the players on the active rosters of the Bears and Packers were black, a statistic that mirrors the dominant presence of blacks on the field in a league that had $8.78 billion in revenue in 2018. I dont know what guidance, if any, he gives offensive coordinator Kellen Moore when it comes to using his two backs. He also saw how it changed between then. I had to duck the rocks and the fellas trying to hurt me.". "Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the '40s," says Pollard's grandson, Fritz Pollard III. Pollard then signed with the NFL's Akron Pros, whom he led to a championship in his rookie season. In 1920, the leagues inaugural season, when there was no playoff and the champion was determined by its win-loss record, Pollards Pros went 8-0-3 and took the title. He called the team Redskins in 1933, a racial slur that was only. The next year, he was named co-head coach as he continued to play for the Pros. Halas and Pollard had both grown up in Chicago and knew each other from high school. Newspaper articles at the time, who described Pollard as a "colored" coach, praised his stellar football IQ. We look at why having two black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl is such a big moment for the NFL, and profile star men Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. 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 .