Fritz Pollard in NFL History
Fritz Pollard (1894–1986) was an early African-American football star. After being named to the collegiate All-American Team while playing at Brown University in 1916, Pollard moved to Ohio and became the best player on the Akron Pros, one of the original NFL franchises.
In the NFL's very first season in 1920, the lighting-fast Pollard led the Pros to an undefeated record and the league's first championship. The next season, Pollard added coaching duties to his resume (even while continuing to play every down as a player amidst an entirely white team), becoming the NFL's first Black head coach.
Pollard played eight seasons in the NFL, earning posthumous induction into the League's Hall of Fame in 2005.