Credit...The New York Times Archives See the article in its original context from TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Art Shell, an outstanding offensive tackle for 15 years who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame two months ago, yesterday became the first black head coach in the National Football League since the league began to gain recognition more than 60 years ago. The Los Angeles Raiders, for whom Shell played his entire career, promoted Shell from his role as offensive line coach to replace Mike Shanahan, a second-year coach who was dismissed by Al Davis, the Raiders' managing general partner. The Raiders were 7-9 in Shanahan's first season and 1-3 this year. In Shell's first game, the Raiders will play the Jets Monday night in Giants Stadium. 'Right Person at the Right Time' ''It is an historic event; I understand the significance of it,'' Shell said at a news conference at the Raiders' training complex in El Segundo, Calif. ''I'm proud of it, but I'm also a Raider. I don't believe the color of my skin entered into this decision. I was chosen because Al Davis felt I was the right person at the right time. The significance in this is I am now the head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders. We're going to try and regain the power, toughness and explosiveness we had in the past.'' Davis acknowledged the historic nature of the appointment only in the narrow context of winning. ''If this is an historic occasion,'' he said, ''it will really only be meaningful and historic if he is a great success.'' With Shell's appointment, the N.F.L. became the last of the major sports leagues in the United States to promote a black to the highest position in competition. In the National Basketball Association, 18 blacks have served as a head coach 25 times since 1966, when Bill Russell succeeded Red Auerbach with the Boston Celtics. Five N.B.A. teams now have black head coaches. Frank Robinson became the first black manager in major league baseball in 1974, when he took over the Cleveland Indians. Now the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, Robinson remains one of four blacks who have managed a total of six times. He and Cito Gaston of the Toronto Blue Jays are the only blacks currently managing major league teams. Since 1925 in the N.F.L., no black had advanced beyond the position of offensive or defensive coordinator. Fritz Pollard, a black running back, served as player-coach for the Hammond (Ind.) Pros from 1923-25, in the early days of the N.F.L., when the league was a tapestry of franchises that were patched together, folded and replaced with regularity. Pollard, who died in 1986 at age 92, was chosen to Walter Camp's all-America team while at Brown University and became a professional in 1919 with the Akron Pros of the American Professional Football Association, which became the N.F.L. in 1922. In 1920, he and a teammate, Paul Robeson, the singer and actor, led Akron to a 13-0 record. In 1923, Pollard was hired as player-coach of the Hammond Pros, compiling a 4-10-2 record in three seasons. Two Super Bowl Champions Shell joined the Raiders as a third-round draft choice in 1968 from Maryland State, now the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. He became one of the N.F.L.'s finest linemen, an integral part of two Super Bowl champion teams, and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl eight times, the most of any Raider player. He also played in 207 league games, third-most among Raider players, and in 23 playoff games. Upon his retirement after the 1982 season, Shell joined the Raiders' coaching staff under Tom Flores and remained when Shanahan succeeded Flores for the 1988 season. ''When I watched Art Shell play, I always felt he would make a good coach and a good head coach,'' John Madden, the CBS football commentator who coached the Raiders from 1969 through 1978, said yesterday by telephone. ''He's a very bright, studious person, who not only played the game physically but knew everything about what he did, what everybody else did and why. He took that approach to the game; he was very, very knowledgeable.'' For almost his entire playing career, Shell lined up alongside the guard Gene Upshaw, another Hall of Famer, giving the Raiders a formidable pair on the left side of the line. They were especially effective during the 1970's, when Ken Stabler, a left-hander, was the quarterback. When the Raiders won their first Super Bowl in 1977, defeating the Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, the defensive end playing across from Shell, Jim Marshall, registered neither a tackle nor a sack. ''Art was one of those guys who never said very much; he wasn't a leader like that,'' Madden said. ''But when he did say something, everybody jumped. And if he didn't say anything, people always wondered what Big Art was thinking.'' Shanahan Leaves Quickly The promotion of the 42-year-old Shell was forged from the misfortunes of Shanahan, the league's youngest coach at 37, who often disagreed with Davis over the direction of the team. After being informed of his dismissal by Davis, Shanahan left the Raiders' training complex without speaking to reporters. ''It's no one's fault,'' Davis said of Shanahan's dismissal. ''These things happen. This thing is not to be negative in any way toward Mike.'' Shanahan had come to the Raiders after four seasons as an assistant with the Denver Broncos. During that time, the Broncos replaced the Raiders as the most feared team in the Western Division of the American Football Conference, winning three division titles and two conference championships. At the same time, the Raiders slipped from 12-4 in 1985 to 8-8 and then 5-10, their worst finish in 25 years. That became Flores's final season. Under Shanahan, the team improved to 7-9, but missed the playoffs for a third consecutive year. That had never happened to the Raiders, who moved from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982, and it did not sit well with Davis, a former coach who maintains strong influence over his team's activity. His discomfort with the Raiders' progress under Shanahan led to speculation throughout the summer that a coaching change was imminent. The rumors were stalled when the Raiders won their opening game, defeating the San Diego Chargers. But a three-game losing streak to division opponents, including a 24-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday, prompted Davis to act. 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."[1] Pro Football Hall of Fame College Football Hall of Fame Pollard attended Albert G. Lane Manual Training High School in Chicago, also known as "Lane Tech," where he played football, baseball, and ran track. He then went to Brown University, majoring in chemistry. Pollard played halfback on the Brown football team, which went to the 1916 Rose Bowl.[2] He was the first black football player at Brown.[3] He became the first black running back to be named to Walter Camp's All-America team.
Pollard coached Lincoln University's football team in Oxford, Pennsylvania during the 1918 to 1920 seasons [4] and served as athletic director of the school's World War I era Students' Army Training Corps. During 1918–1919, he led the team to a victorious season defeating Howard University's Bisons 13–0[5] in the annual Thanksgiving classic as well as Hampton University (7–0) on November 9, 1918, and teams of military recruits at Camp Dix (19–0) on November 2, 1918,[6] and Camp Upton (41–0).[7] By the fall of 1920, he had begun to play for Akron, missing key Lincoln losses to Hampton (0–14) and Howard (0–42), much to the consternation of the alumni and administration.[8] Paul Robeson was enlisted by Lincoln's alumni to coach the Thanksgiving 1920 game against Howard.[8] Pollard criticized Lincoln's administration, saying they had hampered his ability to coach and had refused to provide adequate travel accommodations for the team. "Prior to the Hampton game, the team was compelled to go to Hampton by boat, sleeping on the decks and under portholes," he told a reporter. "No cabins were provided, nor were they given a place to sleep after reaching Hampton. They lost the game through lack of rest." He also blamed the school for not providing the proper equipment. "I, myself, bought and paid $200 out of my pocket for football shoes for the team." He missed the 1920 Howard game, he said, because his Lincoln salary was so low that he was compelled to augment it with pay from Akron.[9] He played professional football with the Akron Pros, the team he would lead to the APFA championship in 1920. In 1921, he became the co-head coach of the Akron Pros, while still maintaining his roster position as running back. He also played for the Milwaukee Badgers, Hammond Pros, Gilberton Cadamounts, Union Club of Phoenixville and Providence Steam Roller. Some sources indicate that Pollard also served as co-coach of the Milwaukee Badgers with Budge Garrett for part of the 1922 season. He also coached the Gilberton Cadamounts, a non-NFL team. In 1923 and 1924, he served as head coach for the Hammond Pros.[2] Pollard, along with all nine of the black players in the NFL at the time, were removed from the league at the end of the 1926 season, never to return again. He spent some time organizing all-black barnstorming teams, including the Chicago Black Hawks in 1928 and the Harlem Brown Bombers in the 1930s. In the 1930s, Pollard founded his own professional football team, the Brown Bombers. The Depression ended the Brown Bombers’ run in 1938, and Pollard went on to other ventures, including a talent agency, tax consulting, and film and music production. He produced Rockin' the Blues[10] in 1956, which included such performers as Connie Carroll, The Harptones, The Five Miller Sisters, Pearl Woods,[11] Linda Hopkins, Elyce Roberts, The Hurricanes, and The Wanderers.[12] Pollard also published the New York Independent News from 1935 to 1942, purportedly the first black-owned tabloid in New York City.[13] Pollard's legacy lives on through his grandson Fritz D Pollard III (and children Meredith Pollard Russell and Marcus Pollard) his other grandson Dr Stephen Towns and granddaughter Stephanie Towns.
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