[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 28, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1967]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN HONOR AND RECOGNITION OF FREDERICK DOUGLAS ``FRITZ'' POLLARD

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                           HON. JULIA CARSON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 2005

  Ms. CARSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Frederick Douglas 
``Fritz'' Pollard. This past August, Fritz, a native Hoosier, was 
inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame alongside 
gridiron legends Dan Marino, Steve Young, and Benny Friedman. Fritz 
Pollard was a pioneer for African-American athletes in the NFL during 
the pre-civil rights era of the 20th century.
  Fritz Pollard was born in Chicago in 1894; the son of a former 
soldier in the Union army. Upon his high school graduation, Pollard 
attended Northwestern, Dartmouth, and Harvard universities prior to his 
enrollment at Brown University in 1915.
  As a young freshman halfback, Pollard led the Brown football team to 
victory over Harvard and Yale with Pollard producing 531 yards of total 
offense and six touchdowns in just two games. As a tribute to his 
success on the field, Pollard was named the first African-American All 
American running back in 1916. Pollard also became the first African-
American to play in the Rose Bowl that same season. Pollard was later 
recognized for his stellar college career in 1954 when he was inducted 
into the College Football Hall of Fame.
  Pollard's professional football career began in 1921 on the early 
Akron Pros roster. He later went on to play for the Milwaukee Badgers, 
the Hammond Pros, and the Providence Steam Roller.
  In the NFL, Pollard electrified the game while enduring the hatred of 
crowds because of his race and the indignities of dressing and eating 
in isolation from his teammates due to Jim Crow laws and customs. He 
often suited up for football games in seclusion at a nearby cigar store 
or in automobiles. While on the field, Pollard always had to remain 
alert for flying rocks and at times even needed to be escorted from the 
field for his safety. This was in addition to the acts of 
discrimination he faced at hotels and restaurants.
  Beginning in 1934, the NFL banned African-American players until 
1946. Pollard fought this segregation by forming independent African-
American touring football teams: the Chicago Black Hawks and most 
notably the New York Brown Bomber, to showcase African-American talent 
to the fans and to the NFL.

  Fritz Pollard's talents extended far beyond the football field. He 
owned a coal company, ran a weekly newspaper, formed his own New York-
based public relations firm, founded F. D. Pollard & Co., one of the 
nation's first Black run securities firms, a talent agency, headed a 
movie studio in Harlem, and produced the first black motion picture.
  Today, Hoosiers still pay tribute to Pollard for the trail that he 
blazed for equality. The Indiana Black Expo, Inc.'s Circle City Classic 
football game annually showcases the talents of collegiate football 
players, coaches, musicians, administrators, faculty, staff and 
boosters to ensure that the name Fritz Pollard and his legacy are not 
forgotten. Frederick Douglas ``Fritz'' Pollard didn't live his life to 
make a living, but rather to make a difference. Pollard forged a trail 
followed by the 69 percent of today's NFL players who are African-
American and the just over 70 percent of the NFL's players from other 
racial and ethnic minority groups. Pollard charted the course followed 
by the six African-American Head Coaches currently in the NFL, the 11 
coordinators and the upwards of 170 minority Assistant Coaches.
  Fredrick Douglas ``Fritz'' Pollard's induction to the NFL Hall of 
Fame shed a light on the early history of the NFL and Pollard's 
pioneering roles as the first African-American coach. To this day we in 
Indiana are proud to have called him our own.

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