February 27, 2004
No. 387

FAVRE: TOUGHEST OF THE TOUGH?
Two national publications -- Men's Journal and USA Today -- have chosen one NFL player as the toughest of the tough -- quarterback BRETT FAVRE of the Green Bay Packers.  It's not hard to see why No. 4 received the accolade.  He's physically tough.  Remember the sore thumb on his throwing hand he played with all of last season and still finished with more TD passes than anyone (32)?  And he's mentally tough.  Who can forget his 22-of-30, 399-yard, four-TD performance in Oakland last season the night after his father died?  "In 12 seasons with the Packers, Favre has known as much pain and glory as any athlete of his generation," wrote Men's Journal in its "25 Toughest Guys in America" article.  USA Today?  It picked Favre as the toughest athlete in sports today, and two other NFL players in the top five of the category -- Baltimore LB RAY LEWIS, No. 5 and Tennessee QB STEVE MC NAIR, No. 3.  The NFL was the only sport with three players in USA's "10 Toughest Athletes" rankings.  Their reasoning on Favre?  "The physical beatings don't keep him out," said USA.  "He shrugs off injuries.  The mental pressures seem not to faze him as he takes another snap and fires a spiral through Lambeau's swirling gusts."             

BROWN UNIV. & BLACK COACHES ASSN. INITIATE POLLARD AWARD
He was the first black quarterback in the NFL and the first black head coach in professional sports.  He went on to become a successful businessman.  FRITZ POLLARD is a legend in football circles.  And now one of the schools he led to glory -- Brown University -- will honor the quarterback who took it to the 1916 Rose Bowl.  In conjunction with the Black Coaches Association (BCA), Brown has instituted the Fritz Pollard College Coach of the Year Award, with the initial honor being granted this June.  "Fritz Pollard was a pioneer, a man who excelled not only because of his magnificent athletic gifts, but also because of his wit, intelligence and ability to lead and inspire people," said FLOYD KEITH, executive director of the BCA.  Pollard played in the NFL from 1920 (the first year of the league) to 1926 for such teams as the Akron Pros, Milwaukee Badgers, Hammond Pros and the Providence Steam Roller.  He became the first African-American head coach in pro sports with Akron in 1921 and coached Hammond in 1925.  During and after his playing days, Pollard was a successful businessman in the securities industry, ran coal companies in Chicago and New York City, became publisher of the first black weekly tabloid in New York City, and advanced employment of African-Americans in the entertainment industry.