Al Pollard

Alfred Lee Pollard (September 7, 1928 – March 3, 2002) was a professional football fullback and halfback.

Pollard was born in Glendale, California, on September 7, 1928.

His mother was Phyllis Pollard.

He starred as a halfback at Loyola High School, where he excelled at executing T formations.

In 1946, his senior year, he scored 23 touchdowns and gained a total of 1,772 yards from scrimmage.

These achievements earned him his second consecutive "Player of the Year" award for Southern California high school football players by the Helms Athletic Foundation.

Not heavily recruited by major colleges, Pollard decided to attend Loyola University, now known as Loyola Marymount, where high school coach Bill Sargent would be coaching.

His 1947 recruiting class was known as the "Golden Boys", and the Los Angeles Times said he was the most glamorous of them.

After a brief stint at Loyola University, he decided to transfer to the United States Military Academy (Army) in the spring of 1949 where he played under the renowned Vince Lombardi as his backfield coach.

Injuries plagued his redshirt freshman campaign, and he dropped out of Loyola on February 18, 1949.

This decision surprised Loyola officials; Pollard said he simply needed rest.

Pollard transferred to the United States Military Academy on March 22, where he played under coach Red Blaik.

Vince Lombardi was their backfield coach.

Due to transfer rules, Pollard was forced to sit out the 1949 season, and he enrolled at Rutherford Preparatory School to pass West Point's entrance exam.

While at Army, he was known to focus his attention mainly on football, and not care much for academics.

Gil Reich, his roommate at West Point, noted that he and several other friends of Pollard frequently helped each other so as to not see anyone drop out.

In his 1950 season, he was Army's statistical leader in scoring and rushing.

He resigned from the school after being involved in an cribbing scandal which decimated the ranks of Army's sports teams.

In his only season on the football team (1950), he was Army's statistical leader in rushing, averaging 7.3 yards per carry, and in scoring, with 83 total points.

Prior to Army's game with Penn, a scout for the latter team said Pollard was the best fullback in college football.

In December, the Helms Athletic Foundation named him to their 1950 All-American team, along with fellow Army cadet Dan Foldberg.

He was also named to the Associated Press and United Press All-East teams.

The Associated Press praised his running capabilities, commenting that "any time he lugs the ball he's liable to go all the way."

Following the end of that season, he was one of the 90 cadets, also including coach Blaik's son, who were forced to resign from the academy because of a cribbing scandal.

The scandal was chronicled in the ESPN original film Code Breakers.

He was drafted by the New York Yanks in the 21st round of the 1951 NFL Draft, and Pollard played a total of 30 games in the NFL with the Yanks and the Philadelphia Eagles, scoring one career touchdown.

According to Pollard in a 1951 interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, the whole fiasco "broke [his] heart."

Following the scandal, he received scholarship offers from five major schools and a number of smaller ones.

Pollard called Moose Krause, athletic director at Notre Dame, about transferring and playing for their football program, but was informed the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had not accepted transfers for six years.

Although he was technically a sophomore, Pollard's class had graduated and he declared himself eligible for the 1951 NFL Draft.

Paul Myerberg of USA Today named Pollard the fifth best player from Army to play in the NFL.

Pollard was selected by the New York Yanks as the eighth pick in the 21st round of the 1951 NFL Draft and 251st overall.

In his third practice with New York, Pollard tore a ligament.

He played six games with the Yanks, where he rushed for two yards and received 18.

In addition, he returned three punts and five kickoffs for 34 and 134 yards, respectively.

In 1954, he left the Eagles for opportunity and played in the Western Interprovincial Football Union, later known as the Canadian Football League (CFL), for the BC Lions, achieving "All Canadian" status.

After retiring from football in 1957, he pursued a number of business ventures in Canada including a beverage distributorship and a well regarded Steakhouse restaurant.

He move back to Pennsylvania and became a color commentator on Eagles broadcasts, first with CBS television from 1961 to 1964, and then on WIP radio, where he worked with play-by-play man Charlie Swift from 1969 to 1976.

Pollard also anchored a postgame Eagles program for WCAU-TV.

During his broadcasting years, he worked as a regional sales manager with a large commercial printing company and developed an ice skating and tennis court facility in Berwyn, Pa. He died of lymphoma on March 3, 2002.