Bernard Eugene Custis 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, starting for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1951. In 2019, Bernie Custis Secondary School officially opened in Hamilton, Ontario. The school is located adjacent to Tim Hortons Field, home site of the Tiger-Cats and Bernie's first professional games.
Early life
Custis was born in Philadelphia in 1928, and graduated from John Bartram High School in Philadelphia in 1947. He excelled in track in high school.
College playing career
Custis was a star quarterback at Syracuse University in 1948, 1949 and 1950, setting numerous Syracuse records that would last for decades. Custis was recruited by Coach Reaves Baysinger, who was replaced by Ben Schwartzwalder 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, the future coach and owner of the Oakland Raiders, at Syracuse.
Syracuse passing statistics
Professional playing career
National Football League
He was drafted in the eleventh round of the 1951 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. As the Browns already had eventual Pro Football Hall of FamerOtto Graham as their starting quarterback at the time, Custis stood no chance of becoming a starting quarterback, and the Browns offered Custis a chance to play safety 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 Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, the league that would form the eastern division of the Canadian Football League in 1958. Custis played during Canadian football'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 to 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 12–6.
Custis finished his professional career with the Ottawa Rough Riders, 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. At Burlington, he coached future Canadian Football Hall of Fame player Tony Gabriel. From 1973 to 1980, he served as a head coach at Sheridan College. 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. 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 OUAACoach of the Year in 1982 and 1984 and was named CIAU Coach of the Year in 1982. He was inducted into the in 2000. In 1994, he was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a "builder" for his contributions to junior and college football in Canada.
