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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2005)
August 24.2005______________________ Il!f JJiirthtnh © bseruer EMBRACING DIVERSITY____________________ S ports Weight Questioned in Player’s Death der such m ild conditions, the notion that Herrion, or any football player, is in good enough shape to handle rigorous gam e conditions sim ply because h e’s a profes sional athlete is being questioned all over again. The first-year guard, a longshot to m ake the final roster, was listed at 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, about average for an N FL line man. But w hen m easured on the body- mass index scale, w hich is a com m only accepted standard o f fitness in the m edical com m unity, H errion w ould be considered “severely obese.” A nd though obesity c a n ’t necessarily be blam ed for the death - at least not at this point - one expert says it surely could have been a contributor. “ Y es, it co u ld be to ta lly u n related to his w eight, b u t the fact rem ain s that he w as 6-3 and he w eig h ed 3 1 0 p o unds and p robably sh o u ld have been 210 p o u n d s,” said Dr. Jo y c e H arp, a U n iv ersity o f N orth C a ro lin a e n d o c rin o lo g ist w ho re cen tly d id a study ca lc u la tin g the B M Is o f all N FL p la y ers and fo u n d that alm o st all p lay ers q u a lifie d as o v erw eig h t o r o b e se . 300 pound linemen typical in football (A P) — T he D enver coroner’s office perform ed an autopsy on San Francisco 49ers player T hom as H errion, but said no cause o f death could be determ ined until toxicology tests were perform ed. The tests usually take about three to six weeks. T he 49ers backup offensive linem an collapsed near his locker a few m inutes after Saturday nig h t’s gam e against the D enver Broncos ended. He was rushed to the hospital, and shortly afterw ard, pro nounced dead at age 23. H errio n 's death once again shined a spotlight on the overall health o f NFL players, especially the linem en, w ho rou tinely w eigh in at m ore than 300 pounds. It cam e four sum m ers after offensive linem an Korey S tringer o f the M innesota V ikings died o f heatstroke follow ing a practice in steam y 90-degree w eather. T em peratures w ere now here near that Saturday night - m id-60s with 50 percent hum idity when H errion w as on the field. A nd w hile heatstroke is still possible un- T h o m a s Herrion Hall of Fame Coach Honored: Light shines on early NFL history (A P) — Fritz Pollard, the first black head coach in NFL history, has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall o f Fam e in Canton, Ohio. P o lla r d ’s A ug. 7 in d u c tio n shined a light on the early history o f the NFL, when Pollard w as an e lu sive running back and coach in a league reluctant to em ploy black players. “For me, I didn ’ t kno w that much about him until I started reading and hearing som e things and then doing the research on it,” said In d ia n a p o lis C o lts c o a c h T o n y D u n gy, one o f six b lack head coaches in the league today. “ In the pre-integration o f the gam e, I think it’s interesting that he not only played the gam e but coached it.” F re d erick D o u g lass P o llard , nam ed for the fam ous black aboli tionist, stood 5-fo o t-9 and 165 pounds, yet starred at Brown U ni versity before turning professional. T he tw o-tim e A ll-A m erican half back becam e the first black player in the Rose Bowl in 1916. The C hicago native served in W orld W ar I and in 1919 he joined Fritz Pollard w a s th e NF L's first b la c k c o a c h , a p layer-coach in th e early 1 9 2 0 s . the Akron Pros o f the A m erican P ro fe ss io n a l F o o tb a ll L ea g u e, w hich was renam ed the A m erican Professional Football A ssociation the next year. He led A kron to the cham pionship in 1920 and becam e the first black coach in N FL history w hen he played and served as co coach in 1921. The APFA was renamed the NFL in 1922. Pollard was fast and pow erful, and one o f the m ain draw s in the league’s infancy. AINSWORTH MARKET 5 9 4 9 N .E . 30th A ven u e P ortland, O R 97211 Pro Hall o f F a m er Fritz Pollard in 1 9 7 5 fro m h is h o m e in N ew R o ch elle, N.Y. “He was a very rugged individual. ... He was excellent in track. He was a pretty good basketball (player), he was good at baseball. He was just almost a natural athlete,” said John M. Carroll, a history professor at Lamar University and the author of the book “Fritz Pollard: Pioneer in Racial Advancement.” “Even though he was sm all, I think he had incredibly good tal ents o f speed and also agility.” He needed all o f his athletic abil ity to survive in the league’s early days because o f his race and size. T o prevent pile-ons, Pollard w ould spin on his back and stick his knees and cleats in the air after he was tackled, said Fritz Pollard 1II, one of his grandsons w ho has lobbied for years for his induction into the Hall ofFam e. “In that era, ju st to play, you had to be tough,” the grandson said. “T hese guys, they had a regular job. T his w asn’t their full-tim e job. T hey had a jo b and they w ould go out there and this was like a w eek end thing to pick up extra m oney for som ething that they loved." P o llard p lay ed and at tim es coached for four N FL team s until 1926. After his N FL career, he orga nized all-black team s that played al I over the country into the m id -1930s in an effort to get the N FL to sign m ore black players. It is believed there w ere no black players in the league from 1934-46. Pollard, w ho died in 1986 at age 92, also was a successful business man. He ow ned a H arlem music studio w here artists such as Duke Ellington rehearsed. He also served as an entertainm ent agent and ran a tabloid new spaper. you In Touch Tiger Woods reacts after missing a birdie on the 1 7th green in Akron, Ohio during the final round o f the NEC Invitational on Sunday. Woods made par on 17 and 18 in to win the tournament by one shot over Chris DiMarco at six under par. (AP photo) Youth Football Signups Registration is still open for youth tackle football through the Police A ctivities League in P ort land, Gresham andTroutdale. PAL serves 23 team s o f youth in the fourth through eighth grade. A flag football program in Tigard will also start this year. P ra ctices are held in p ark s m an ag ed by P o rtlan d P ark s and R ecrea tio n as w ell as v ario u s school field s. G am e s are h eld on S atu rd ay s w ith o v e rflo w g am es s c h e d u le d d u r in g w e e k n ig h t p ra c tic e s. T he opening jam b o ree is S atur day, A ug. 27, and opening day is Saturday, Sept. 10. Player signups will continue until team s are filled. A pplication form s are available at ww w.palkids.org or by calling 503- 823-0250. mein e k e car c a re c e n te r J 1 ab 1 Prepaid Cell COMIVpLUS K e e p in g Hit and Miss Phone Service M ike a n d C hris will h e lp y o u w ith y o u r a u to m o tiv e n e e d s R ig h t S e r v ic e . R ig h t P r ic e A irvoice $39.99 Young (John) Choi 503-283-9170 Free A ctivation +6()min if you mention ad! Open 9:30 A M . To 10:00 RM. - 7 days a week lust \s k fur: — Mike McMillen M anager Under new management - stop in and shop. 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