Brown University halfback Fritz Pollard in 1916. (Pro Football Hall of Fame)

The Akron Pros including Fritz Pollard, far left, Harry Harris, left, Rip King, right, and Budge Garrett, far right, circa 1921. (Pro Football Hall of Fame)

Fritz Pollard, left, all-time Brown Football great, receives a plaque as he is welcomed into the National Football Hall of Fame by Boston columnist Bill Cunningham during halftime ceremonies at the Brown-Springfield game in Providence, R.I., Nov. 6, 1954. (Associated Press)

Fritz Pollard, 81, who has the honor of being one of the first back head coach in pro football history, reminisces at his home in New Rochelle, N.Y., Feb. 12, 1975. In the background is a photo and portrait of Pollard in earlier days. Pollard, a native of Chicago, became player-coach of the Akron Pros in 1920. (Associated Press)

Sports editor Rube Samuelson, left, of the Pasadena Star-News Interviews Fritz Pollard, center, halfback on the 1915 Brown University team, and W.H. "Lone Star" Dietz, coach of the 1915 Washington State team, in Pasadena, Calif., Dec. 30, 1955. The two temas met in the first Rose Bowl game on Jan. 1, 1916, and surviving members are back to see the 1956 game between UCLA and Michigan State. (Associated Press)

Steven Towns, right, stands next to the bust of Fritz Pollard, former pro football player and first African-American pro football head coach, with Pollard's grandson Fritz Pollard III, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2005 at Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)