Fritz Pollard #1522

Caption from poster__       Fritz Pollard   Fritz Pollard in 1921 became    the first black to coach an NFL  team, and the only one until  Art Shell took charge of the   Oakland Raiders in 1989.  Five years earlier, Pollard had   been the second black named   to the college football All-  American team.       Fritz Pollard, an All-America halfback from Brown University      was a pro football pioneer in more ways than one. The 5-9,        165-pound back, who led Brown to the Rose Bowl in 1915,        turned pro in 1919, when he joined the Akron (OH) Pros          following army service during World War I.  In 1920, the     Pros joined the newly founded American Professional Football        Association, later renamed the National Football League.       That season, with Pollard leading the charge, the Pros went          undefeated (8-0-3) to win the league's first crown.  As a          member of the new league, Pollard immediately earned a         place in pro football history