Fritz Pollard, the seventh of eight children, grew up in Rogers Park, Illinois, a predominantly white suburb of Chicago. A three-sport athlete at Lane Tech High, Pollard wanted to attend Dartmouth to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Leslie. During a stopover in Providence in January 19913, Fritz had his first view of the Van Wickle gates sparkling in the sun; his career at Brown had begun.

During the 1915 and 19916 football seasons. Pollard achieved legendary status, compiling “firsts” as frequently as he gained first downs. He was the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl (1916), was named to the Walter Camp All American Team, and the first one to occupy a position in a Walter Camp backfield. Nicknamed the “Human Torpedo” Pollard almost single-handedly defeated Yale and Harvard in 1916. For his exploits Pollard was elected to the National College Football Hall of Fame in 1954- the first African American ever chosen.

As a professional, Pollard continued to pioneer in spite of the overt racism of the period. He was among the first African Americans in the American Professional Football Association and National Football Leagues; the first to play quarterback and the first head coach. Considered something of a novelty in the 1920s, Pollard, along with Jim Thorpe, were major gate attractions. In 1928 Pollard organized and coached the Chicago Black Hawks, an all-Black team. The Black Hawks played against white teams in the Chicago area, but enjoyed their greatest success by scheduling exhibition games against West Coast teams during the winter months. In 2005 Fritz Pollard was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.