Al Pollard

Short Biography

Alfred Lee Pollard (September 7, 1928 – March 3, 2002) was a professional football fullback and halfback. 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. In his 1950 season, he was Army's statistical leader in scoring and rushing, resigned from the school after being involved in an all sports wide cribbing scandal which decimated the ranks of Army's Sports teams. 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. In 1954, he left the Eagles for opportunity and played in the Western Interprovincial Football Union, later known as the Canadian Football League, 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 1961–1964, and then on WIP radio, where he worked with play-by-play man Charlie Swift from 1969-1976. 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.