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Hey, nice guy. What's easy now? Rambo 59. Get on the ball Rambo. Welcome to the Forgotten quarterbacks, hosted by W Earl Kitchens. Our podcast is dedicated to preserving the legacies of black quarterbacks who've. Played the game of American football, and now here's your host, w Earl Kitchens. Good afternoon and welcome to another edition of The Forgotten Quarterbacks. I'm your host w Earl Kitchens, and as we like to say, here we are the preeminent fraternity as quarter five back, the preeminent fraternity for black quarterbacks. We are on a mission to preserve the legacies through the history of black quarterbacks who have played American. Football, American style football around the globe. It has become an international sport. So we have taken up the mission to make sure that we record and document these outstanding players histories, the teams they played for, and the phenomenal work they did. Even the records that set them apart from other quarterbacks. During their era on the grid iron. Today, our topic, and it will be our topic for the next four shows is CFL Black Quarterback Legacy. Today we're going to be doing part one and introduce you to two names that are probably the first pillars to be on rosters for Canadian Football League team. They both came out of colleges here in the United States and we want to make sure that we let you know that they were phenomenal during their time. Our first quarterback played at Syracuse University. He was a signal caller there, had a great career while he was there. His name Bernie. Now, while wanting to play in the NFL. And looking at an opportunity to play was drafted in the 11th round of the 1951 draft by the Cleveland Brown. And it's ironic that the Cleveland Browns seem to have their eyes and their scouts finding, uh, black college football talent dating back to 1951 because you know, the one two of the most prolific. Football players to play for Syracuse, Jim Brown and Ernie Davis. Both of those guys were drafted by the Cleveland Browns, uh, because the Washington Redkins were not gonna draft any black player. That's how the Washington Redskins were back in the fifties through the sixties. But being drafted by the Browns in 1951 cu this. Decided that he probably wasn't gonna get a fair shake or they were gonna ask him to do what Many teams often have done change position. Can you play quarterback? Can you play wide out? Can you play running back? Can you play lineback? I mean anything but quarterback. So instead of going through that dilemma, Bernie Custer opted. To go play for the Hamilton Tigercat in the CFL. And there he played for six seasons. His career stats include over 1000 yards of total offense and 36 touchdowns. So that alone shows you that, uh, he could run it and he could throw it. Most of the time they probably wanted him to run the football. He helped the Tiger Cats win the 1953 Gray Cup. Now the Gray Cup is the equivalent to American Super Bowl. And then after an injury, because his career was ended, uh, the Tiger Cats would not see another black quarterback, uh, till about maybe 1970. And I think Chuck Ely was the next guy that came into their roster. Then 1991. Definitely Don McPherson out of Syracuse. But what's intriguing about the CFL and why black players tend to end up going there is because they are given an opportunity to show off their talents and their skill. In addition, the CFL has a different grid iron layout. Their field is longer and wider than the average football field here in the United States. The end zones are 20 yards long. The playing fields from sideline and sidelines are 2020 yards wide, so to compensate for that extra large portion of field, the CFL has a 12 man team. Offense and defense when they play their football game, which is interesting because having one more player makes it that much more engaging. So now, because this difference that Canada has, I mean, you know, it's, it's interesting, you know, you get, they only play with three downs on third down, if you punt. The punt team must return the ball. There is no fair catch, and the pointer, you know, will be hit immediately because there is no fair catch. Then on offense, there is no prevention of running players towards the line of scrimmage. You can start a football player or receiver running back 10 15 yards deep and have them running toward the line of scrimmage to run a route, and that's fine. You can have multiple players running that distance on a play, and there's no problem because of the wide field, because of the extra player. It makes Canada very interesting and very entertaining. But additionally, it gave black quarterbacks the freedom and opportunity to showcase their talent and skill. So as you can see, Bernie Custers went there and played. Six years, and then the next guy who would go to Canada and have an opportunity played at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers, as they're known, was a phenomenal quarterback and superstar for the Golden Gophers. His name was Sandy Stevens led the golden golfers to a Big 10 championship. I won 1961 and that particular championship game was the first time ever in the history of the Big 10, where two black quarterbacks started a game against one another. Wilbur Hollis was the other guy who played for Iowa when Minnesota played them for the Big 10 Championship. Now. Sandy Stevens, after his remarkable career at Minnesota, wanted to play professionally. He was drafted, ironically, by the Cleveland Browns and the New York Titans, who became the New York Jets, who are now the New York Jets. He was drafted by the Titans in 1962, but opted to take his talents. Montreal, Canada and play for the ettes. He opted out because he was told he would not be used at the quarterback position. Imagine rooming yourself working day in, day out to become a quarterback or a very skilled position player, or even in, in a job, and you're asked to play or do something different. So because of that. He went to Canada, played for the Ettes in 62 and 63, but here's a twist. In 1968, he was on the roster of the Kansas City Chiefs and he was on the roster as a running back, that was his last year, professional football and. After that, you know, Sandy Stevens, as they say, hung up his cleats. But those two examples of black quarterbacks from those early years of the CFL, from those early years of seeing black quarterbacks play at colleges in America, and of course most of those colleges that fielded black quarterbacks were. In the north or the Midwest. So as you can see between, uh, the northeast of Syracuse all the way over to the Midwest of Minnesota, but they were given opportunities to quarterbacks based on talent, uh, in colleges back then. And that worked out for many of the colleges. And it worked out for many of the pro teams in the CFL. So you can't. Denied that these men could play the game and did well at that. So as the Canadian Football League gained the popularity, uh, because of their unique styles of play and their wide open field, uh, it got popular. Guys, you know, if you're not gonna draft me to play what I wanna play in the NFL. And even if you do draft me to play a position in the NFL, but you're not gonna give me opportunity. I'd rather take my chances of playing and getting more playing time at a team in the CFL than to go through all the challenges and changes that would happen in the NFL, uh, and in the cities where teams had players of color would come and play. Taking their talents there worked out. And with each one of our series, because this is part one, as as we told you at the start of the show, with each one of our series, we're going to give you the names of Canadian football teams and we're going to give you the names of the black quarterbacks, the college they attended and the years they played for those specific teams. Because there have been quite a few black quarterbacks who play in this league, and what we gleaned from looking at the information presented before us was that they didn't have a problem moving around and the teams didn't have a problem putting them on their rosters. Especially if you had seen a guy play and a team cut him and you figured, well, maybe he can help us. Then they just moved around, but they still had opportunity and that's what drove them to keep playing in Canada. So here are the names of the black quarterbacks who played for Hamilton in alphabetical order. Damon Allen out of Cal State Fullerton in 1992. Marcus Brady Outta Cal State North Ridge in 2004 and oh five. Henry Bur of Temple 20 12 20 13. David Corley of William and Mary 2013. Again, Bernie Cuus of Syracuse in 1951 to 56. Markel, Fleetwood and Rey. Ricky Foggy both out of the University of Minnesota, both playing for Hamilton in 1997. Kevin Glenn from Illinois State in oh nine and 11. Marvin Graves from Syracuse, 1996 to Corey Harris out of the University of Miami in Florida, 2015, Johnny Johnson from Illinois. Then we had Khari Jones out of California Davis in 2005. Montre Kirby, Jacksonville State in 99. Don McPherson, another Syracuse quarterback, 1991 and 93. Jamie Newman, a product of Wake Forest in 2020, I'm sorry, 2022. Jalen Morton from Prairie View in 2022 Perry out of Florida Atlantic in 2023, along with Antonio Pipkin in 2023. A guy I worked with back in my days of working at Florida a and m University, Casey Printers. He was with Hamilton in oh seven and oh eight Kelvin Robinson, another HBCU product. 2001 out of Alabama a and m. Reggie Slack, uh, outstanding quarterback from Auburn, 1994. Then he came back and played in 2003, so that fan is about 10 years in itself. Butchy Washington out of Akron, 2000 1 0 2. Jake Waters out of Kansas State, 2016. David Watford of Hampton. From 2019 to 21 and Richie Williams out of Appalachian State in 2006 through oh eight, those are the quarterbacks who played for Hamilton. Now, the list for the guys who played at Ottawa is just a tad bit shorter, and that first name on the list for Ottawa is one of the great quarterbacks that played at Tennessee State. That was Joe 7 47 Adams, and he played with Ottawa in 1984. Henry Boris. Again, as we mentioned, not only played for Hamilton, but he played for Ottawa 2014 to 15. Dominique Davis from East Carolina 2018 to 21. Caleb Evans from Louisiana Monroe 21 through 22, and Tyrell Grom of Towson in 2023. So that is just a sample of the quarterbacks who've played in Canada for these two teams of Hamilton and Ottawa. Some names you may have heard of, some names you may be totally unfamiliar of. If you happen to know some of these guys' names in in college and kinda wonder, well, what happened to them once they finished their collegiate careers? Well. For many of them before the world opened up to football, they were in Canada. They went on to play in Canada. And, and not only has the world opened up to football in countries across the con the uh, globe, but uh, indoor football or arena league football also has. Caught on. And now we also have the UFL, which is a springtime professional football league. So there are many, many, many, many opportunities to be a football player on a team throughout the world, which means there are many opportunities for black quarterbacks to get a shot at being one of the best they can be in playing on some of these teams. So we wanna make sure that. As we provide you with the information on this four part series that you recognize how challenging it may have been or has been or maybe still is, that black quarterbacks are still finding it a challenge and some of them are still being asked to play a different position. I love the comment that. Uh, Lamar Jackson made when asked about playing a different position, and he is like, I'm a quarterback, and that's all I am. That's all I'll ever be. That's the only position I'll ever play. So that speaks volumes about how black quarterbacks are evolving in the 21st century. So this has been just the first part, uh, in a series of four. To give you some insight into black quarterbacks who have played north of the border in Canada. Well, we hope that you have enjoyed this part one of a four-part series about Canadian Football League Black Quarterback Legacies. We hope that you tune in next time as we bring you part two in our series. We are the forgotten quarterbacks. We are a production. Of fortified back an organization which is on a mission to preserve the legacies of black quarterbacks. And we are presented in part also by the Mentors Foundation. If you wanna find out more about black quarterbacks stories, information, statistics, check out the website www dot quarter by. And that's quarter PHI, not FI quarter PI back.com. Also, every Monday night at seven o'clock you can tune into the post route show where I'll be hosting, uh, our TV podcast to interview a black quarterback past and present about their careers of playing at their particular college high school. We've even now dipped into middle school, and we got a surprise for you coming up. This year we got something even younger than middle school. But go to quarter five backs.com and click on the icon. You can also get a copy of my book, the Forgotten QBs, that highlights black quarterbacks since 1903, playing at major colleges and more statistics and data and information. And then finally, uh, on the website you can get a read for yourself, a copy of our newsletter, the post route. The post route newsletter and the TV podcast, that'll work in tandem. So that's gonna do it for me. I'm w Earl Kitchens the host of the forgotten quarterbacks. Until next time, we're gonna say, take care. Bye. Thank you for joining us here on the Forgotten quarterbacks with Host w Earl Kitchen. Join us as we discuss more about the legacies of black quarterbacks who've played the game of American football.