"There Goes Doc Pollard"

Early in the first period of the Dartmouth-Columbia game a whistle shrilled across Memorial Field and the players began untangling themselves as another play ended. When it became apparent that a Dartmouth player was not getting up, two men stepped quickly from the sidelines. In the lead was Tony Dougal, head trainer for the Big Green, while limping only a step or two behind came a familiar figure wearing a dark coat and rather battered gray hat and carrying a small, black bag. It was Doctor Joseph Greeley Pollard '23, long-time physician for Dartmouth teams.

Although few alumni in the stands were aware of it, this was the 236th consecutive Dartmouth football game that Doc Pollard had attended in his official capacity. He has not missed a game - home or away - since he began ministering to the Big Green varsity football players back in the fall of 1934, the first year that Earl "Red" Blaik was head coach. He has thus seen more Big Green football games than any other man in Dartmouth history and his attendance record, as it continues to grow, may never be equaled.

In his modest, unassuming way, Doc is almost nonchalant about this accomplishment. "It's just that I've been fortunate in having good health, and that I enjoy the game and the boys."

Doc Pollard developed his love for football early, playing guard for the Big Green under Dr. Clarence (Fat) Spears and then Jackson Cannell. After graduation from Dartmouth and the Dartmouth Medical School, he attended Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons and later interned at the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover. He returned to Dartmouth in 1931, as physician for the freshman teams, until he moved up to varsity status in the fall of 1934.

While Joe Pollard's first love is football, he has responsibility for the health of all athletes playing on DCAC-sponsored teams. He attends all home basketball and hockey games, and on some evenings, when both teams are playing at home, rushes from the Davis Rink to the Gymnasium with an alacrity and eagerness that belie his years.

Known to hundreds of Dartmouth athletes, Doc Pollard is also remembered by alumni in the Classes of 1935 through 1957, who as freshmen took his weekly class in Hygiene - those men who "have gone out from Doc Pollard's 'smut' class."

After nearly thirty years of caring for the well-being of Dartmouth athletes, Doc Pollard sees few changes in the general physical condition of young men. "Back in the thirties the boys used their legs more. They walked to school, few had automobiles and their legs were in better shape. We had fewer injuries to the legs, particularly the knees. However, today's athletes generally tend to be taller and heavier. I believe this is due to better diet and, of course, to better knowledge and experience in medicine."

Joe and his wife, Alice, have two children - Susan who is now married and living in Ontario, Canada, and a son, Charlie, who graduated from the University of Colorado in 1955 and is now working in the West.

Don't talk to Doc about retirement. "I don't even think about it," he confesses. "I still look forward to each season and particularly enjoy traveling with the football team. You get to know a boy well when you travel with him."

The day we talked with Doc, he'd reported to his office in the gymnasium at 8 a.m. and at 6:30 p.m. was still going strong as he checked over the football team after practice. The next day at noon he was on his way to Ithaca for the Dartmouth-Cornell encounter and game number 237. By the time this is read the Dartmouth-Princeton finale with be history, as will game number 238.

So the next time you attend a Dartmouth football game, look for the man in a dark coat and battered gray hat with a small black bag. And when he hustles onto the field as a Dartmouth player goes down, nudge whoever is sitting next to you and remark "There goes Doc Pollard. He's been at every Dartmouth football game since 1934." But if you've played on any of the teams he's worked with, look him up after the game and say hello. Doc likes that.

Dr. Joe Pollard '23