Bernie Custis | Syracusefan.com

Bernie Custis

SWC75

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SI recently did an article on Marlin Briscoe, the first black quarterback to start for an NFL team. A reader named Doug Allsebrook of Hamilton, Ontario, pointed out that the first black quarterback to start for a pro football team was SU's own Bernie Custis, who was the starting quarterback for the 1951 Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Custis

Way to go Bernie!
http://www.thestar.com/sports/footb...tballs_first_africanamerican_quarterback.html

9889395-large.jpg
 
Great story. His roommate, of all people, ... Al Davis.

One also wonders if Syracuse was the first current P-5 school with a black quarterback. I believe it was. Wilmet Sidat-Singh played QB in 1937 & 1938, when new football coach Ben Schwartzwalder there moved him from halfback.

Edit: the Ben reference is incorrect as SWC points out below.
 
Last edited:
Great story. His roommate, of all people, ... Al Davis.

One also wonders if Syracuse was the first current P-5 school with a black quarterback. I believe it was. Wilmet Sidat-Singh played QB in 1937 & 1938, when new football coach Ben Schwartzwalder there moved him from halfback.


Ben Schwartzwalder became our coach in 1949. Ossie Solem was Sidat-Singh's coach
 
Ben Schwartzwalder became our coach in 1949. Ossie Solem was Sidat-Singh's coach
Good catch... there were conflicting online articles. I should've read more carefully and checked the facts.

That doesn't take away from the main point. Wilmet's story should be known by all SU alumni & fans.
 
But Singh was always referred to as "The Slinging Hindu." It wasn't until the eve of the Maryland game that a Baltimore newspaper revealed he was black and Maryland refused to play unless he sat out.

I wrote a play about Singh, that a few on the board attended. It's been very much in my thoughts lately and I've been thinking of turning it into a movie that the story deserves.

Incidentally, I saw Custis play. A great talent with a great arm, who ran all over the field until his receivers could get free. It didn't matter much, because they'd drop them anyway.
 
But Singh was always referred to as "The Slinging Hindu." It wasn't until the eve of the Maryland game that a Baltimore newspaper revealed he was black and Maryland refused to play unless he sat out.

I wrote a play about Singh, that a few on the board attended. It's been very much in my thoughts lately and I've been thinking of turning it into a movie that the story deserves.

Incidentally, I saw Custis play. A great talent with a great arm, who ran all over the field until his receivers could get free. It didn't matter much, because they'd drop them anyway.


I've always thought a dual biography of Wilmeth Sidat-Singh and Nile Kinnick, switching back and forth, comparing and contrasting their experiences, would be fascinating.

Sidat-Singh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmeth_Sidat-Singh

Kinnick: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_Kinnick
 

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