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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, starting for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1951. Note: Fritz Pollard is credited by some as being the first African-American quarterback in pro football. In 1923 Pollard took several direct snaps from the center in an NFL game for the Hammond Pros.
In 2019, Bernie Custis Secondary School officially opened in Hamilton, Ontario. The school is located adjacent to Tim Hortons Field (and formerly Ivor Wynne Stadium), home site of the Tiger-Cats and Bernie's first professional games.
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.
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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 IRFU playoff series to Toronto, 2 games to 1.
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.
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 to 1978.
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 OUAA Coach of the Year in 1982 and 1984 and was named CIAU Coach of the Year in 1982. He was inducted into the McMaster Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.
In 1998, he was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a "builder" for his contributions to junior and college football in Canada.
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