The Washington herald., 1916-11-24
THE BRONZE MAHAN'
OF 1916 FOOTBALL
Pollard. the Colored Flyer of Brown
Eleven, Best Back in East.

Silhouetted against the background of
brilliant football year is the dusky foru1
OF Fred D. Fritz Pollard. the colored
flyer of the Brown University eleven.
:, Thanks to an attack built about this
wonderful young player and to his re-
markable individual running and defen-
Rive playing. the Providence team this
outside the big three" has been able to
approach-that Of scoring twenty-one
points against and defeating both the
Harvard and the Yale machines,
Probably no football player is causing
more discussion today than Browns SEN
sational half back.
' There are critics who discuss the clever
negro from an adverse standpoint, but
any man who can get out there on the
gTidiron and pull of the stunts that Pol
lard has shown In the last two weeks
have few good points. Yale players
think so and the chances are that Har-
ward figures 1t the same way.
The Bronze Mahan," as Pollard has
been dubbed, is a Chicagoan, q years of
age, weighs 154 pounds, and a sophomore
at Brown University. He is. therefore
available for the eleven for two more
season. To what heights he may rise In
two more campaigns is mere conjecture.
He ought to be without peer in his
graduating year. According to all prece-
dent Pollard ought then to be named cap
ttain Of the 1918 eleven, considering his re-
markable service.
Pollard. although small. as modern
football heroes rate. goes into battle
light" That Is to say, he wears prac-
tiCally no pads or head gear. He is said
to be rare tackler, good interferer
and can punt some, as well as carry the
ball incomparably.
Fritz was graduated from Lane
Technical High School, OF Chicago, in
the spring of 1915. and entered Brown
that fall While at Lane, Pollard took
part in athletics and played on the school
football team.
This marvel Of the football world en-
tered the Providence institution OF learn
ing unheralded. unsung and unknown.
Reporting for football practice a few
days after he had matriculated, he at
once attracted the attention OF the
coaches, but even Ned Robinson. who
has about as keen a nose for promising
material as any general in the game, did
not dream that in the dusk athlete he
, was to develop one of the sensations of
the season.
For several days Pollard went through
the routine drill with the scrub talent.
hut, as modest today as he was then. he
never put the best foot forward until
given chance to play half back with
the second team in a game with Worces-
ter Academy at Worcester. The things
he did to the academy boys is still re-
membered vividly
The next day Pollard was taken in
tow by Coach Robinson and given &
place on the varsity training table. Win
ming steady berth at half back on the
hrst eleven was about the easiest thing
Pollard has ever done. In less than A
week he had the Job clInched and he
has been a regular ever since
Pollard, is rated the greatest half back
ever turned out at Brown, and so bril-
liant is his work on ofrense that the
vritics often lose sight of his greatness
on defense, a department In which he
stands without a peer in the opinion
Of the Brown coaching staff
In addition to being a football celeb
rity, Pollard holds high rank as a
hurdler and at present is the custodian
Of the New England Amateur Athletic
Association record Of 2-5 seconds for
the 6Oryard hurdles indoors. ,. He has
topped the barriers in the 22o-yard rur
in . seconds.