Bernard Eugene Custis (September 23, 1928 – February 23, 2017) was an American and Canadian football player who went on to a distinguished coaching career. He is known for having been the first black professional quarterback in the modern era and first in professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

, starting for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

in 1951. In 2019, Bernie Custis Secondary School officially opened in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

. The school is located adjacent to

Tim Hortons Field Tim Hortons Field, nicknamed "The Donut Box", is a multi-purpose stadium in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Built as a replacement for Ivor Wynne Stadium, Tim Hortons Field is primarily used for Canadian football and soccer, and is the home of the ...

(and formerly

Ivor Wynne Stadium Ivor Wynne Stadium (formerly Civic Stadium) was a Canadian football stadium located at the corner of Balsam and Beechwood avenues, two blocks west of Gage Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The stadium was the home of the Hamilton Tige ...

), home site of the Tiger-Cats and Bernie's first professional games.

Early life

Custis was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1928, and graduated from

John Bartram High School John Bartram High School is a public secondary school serving neighborhoods of the Southwest Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the School District of Philadelphia. History O ...

in Philadelphia in 1947. He excelled in track in high school.

College playing career

Custis was a star quarterback for the

Syracuse Orange football The Syracuse Orange football team represents Syracuse University in the sport of American football. The Orange compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Division of th ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – ...

and

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

, setting numerous Syracuse records that would last for decades. Custis was recruited by Coach Reaves Baysinger, who was replaced by

Ben Schwartzwalder Floyd Burdette Schwartzwalder (June 2, 1909 – April 28, 1993) was a Hall of Fame football coach at Syracuse University, where he trained future National Football League stars such as Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Floyd Little and Ernie Davis, the ...

after a 1–8 season. He played the first two seasons of the Coach Schwartzwalder's 25-year tenure at Syracuse. The team went 4–5 in 1949 and 5–5 in 1950. Custis was awarded the Syracuse Football team's Most Valuable Player trophy for the 1948 season. Custis roomed with

Al Davis Allen Davis (July 4, 1929 – October 8, 2011) was an American football coach and executive. He was the principal owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) for 39 years, from 1972 until his death in ...

, the future coach and owner of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

, at Syracuse.

Syracuse passing statistics

Professional playing career

National Football League

He was drafted in the eleventh round of the

1951 NFL draft The 1951 National Football League Draft was held January 18–19, 1951, at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. The Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season, and the NFL placed their players in the 1951 NFL draft. This was the fifth year that t ...

by the Cleveland Browns. As the Browns already had eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer

Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Grah ...

as their starting quarterback at the time, Custis stood no chance of becoming a starting quarterback (the NFL, although it had recently begun accepting black players again, had also not had a black quarterback in three decades), and the Browns offered Custis a chance to play

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

instead. When Custis refused, the Browns then offered to release him, on the condition that he would not play for another NFL team.

Canadian football

Custis chose to sign with the

in the

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...

(IRFU), the league that would form the eastern division of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

in 1958. Custis played during

's transition to its modern era, which apart from the official founding of the CFL is generally regarded as having been completed by 1954 or 1955. Custis started at quarterback for Hamilton in 1951, becoming the first black player to play quarterback in Canadian professional football. He started every game for Hamilton in 1951, in both the regular season and playoffs, which finished with a 7–5 record. They won their first-round playoff game 24–7 over Toronto in Toronto. They lost in the Eastern finals to Ottawa 9–11 in front of a sell-out crowd of over 17,000 at Hamilton Civic Stadium. Custis was named to the IRFU All Star team as a quarterback in 1951. Despite being an All-Star at quarterback, he was switched to running back in 1952, where he was also a successful player. The 1952 Tiger-Cats had an outstanding regular season, finishing 9–2–1, but lost in the playoff finals to Toronto 7–12. In 1953, Custis played for Hamilton in their victory in the 41st Grey Cup game, the Canadian pro football championship game, defeating the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

12–6.
Custis finished his professional career with the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

, playing running back in 1955 and 1956.

Coaching career

After the end of his professional career, he stayed in Canada and began a career as a teacher and elementary school principal. At the same time, he coached junior level football, most notably with the Oakville Black Knights and Burlington Braves of the

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

(CJFL). At Burlington, he coached future

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about ...

player Tony Gabriel. From 1973 to 1980, he served as a head coach at

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west- Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Founded in ...

. During his tenure, his record was 86–14, winning six consecutive Eastern College Championships from 1973–78. In 1981, he accepted the head coach position at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical ...

. In his second year with the Marauders, he improved the team's standing from seventh to first place. Over eight seasons he led the Marauders to a 31–23–1 record. He was named the OUAA Coach of the Year in 1982 and 1984 and was named CIAU Coach of the Year in 1982. He was inducted into th
McMaster Athletic Hall of Fame
in 2000. In 1994, he was inducted into the

as a "builder" for his contributions to junior and college football in Canada.

Highlights and honors

As a player

* IRFU (Canadian League) All Star 1951 as Quarterback * IRFU (Canadian League) All Star 1954 as Running Back * 1953 Grey Cup Winners (Canadian Football Championship) * Syracuse University Athletic Hall of Fame (1977 Inductee)

As a coach

* All-Star Coach 1975, 1977, 1978 * OUAA Coach of the Year 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 * CIAU Coach of the Year ( Frank Tindall Trophy) 1982 *

(1998 Inductee) * McMaster University Hall of Fame (2000 Inductee)

References

External links

*
Syracuse football links: Former Orange QB Bernie Custis honored for breaking down barriers
*
Bernie Custis
at cfhof.ca *

*
Meet Bernie Custis, football’s first African-American quarterback
*
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*
Halton Breaking News - Halton's Online Newspaper
*
Tourism Burlington
*
Syracuse QB Bernie Custis Honored For Breaking Color Barrier
*
Bernie Custis athletic career, photos, articles, and videos , Fanbase
Videos * A Star is born

* 2013 Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

{{DEFAULTSORT:Custis, Bernie 1928 births 2017 deaths Players of American football from Washington, D.C. African-American players of American football American football quarterbacks John Bartram High School alumni Syracuse Orange football players African-American players of Canadian football Canadian football quarterbacks Canadian football running backs Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Ottawa Rough Riders players Coaches of Canadian football Sheridan College faculty McMaster Marauders football coaches Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people