{"product_id":"breaking-the-color-barrier-the-story-of-the-first-african-american-nfl-head-coach-frederick-douglass-fritz-pollard-bio-shorts","title":"Breaking the Color Barrier: The Story of the First African American NFL Head Coach, Frederick Douglass \"Fritz\" Pollard (Bio Shorts)","description":"‚òÖ‚òÖ‚òÖ He changed the sport...and then he was largely forgotten ‚òÖ‚òÖ‚òÖ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe history of sports and race is messy. In baseball Jackie Robinson is universally touted as the first black major league player, which conveniently forgets Moses Fleetwood Walker and other players of color who appeared on 19th century diamonds.\u003cbr\u003eFootball deals with the messiness a different way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe sport employs the term \"modern era\" instead. So Kenny Washington is the first black player of the \"modern era.\" James Harris was the first black quarterback to start an NFL game in the \"modern era.\" Art Shell was the first black head coach of the \"modern era.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe reason football has to append the qualifier to its historical racial milestones is because there was a man who was doing all those things back when the National Football League began. His name was Fritz Pollard, and this is his story.","brand":"CREATESPACE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47342518304994,"sku":"MTO-2026-01-20-Createspace-282-9.7425","price":33.44,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0569\/9898\/5881\/files\/book_280_rU2wAXleD.jpg?v=1769102000","url":"https:\/\/layitflat.com\/products\/breaking-the-color-barrier-the-story-of-the-first-african-american-nfl-head-coach-frederick-douglass-fritz-pollard-bio-shorts","provider":"Lay it Flat Publishing Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}