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Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. Football pioneer Walter Camp called Pollard "one of the greatest runners these eyes have ever seen."

Pollard played for Brown University, for which he was the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl and the first African American running back to be named to Walter Camp's All-American team. Pollard then played professionally with the Akron Pros and the Hammond Pros, among other teams. With Akron, a member of the American Professional Football Association, Pollard was a running back and in his second season became the first African American to coach in pro football. After the APFL became the National Football League, Pollard was pro football's first black quarterback while playing for the Hammond Pros. Pollard is in the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, posthumously in 2005 and his election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 19 years after his death; many autograph collectors did not have him on their “autograph radars.”

18 years, after his enshrinement in Canton, he still remains an elusive need on many Pro FB HOF collector’s autograph want lists. We’d rate him in the TOP 10 toughest autographs to obtain of members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Offered is a signed & personalized 3x5 index card that he wrote Brwon U. 1919 under his name. Signed in blue ink!

Encapsulated by PSA/DNA