During the heyday of Syracuse University football, in the mid-to-late 1950s and early 1960s, the team boasted of star runners Jim Brown and Heisman winner Ernie Davis and a national championship in 1959. A decade later, though, the program found itself in troubled waters when a group of African American players (“the Syracuse Eight”) demanded change in a petition that called for starting assignments based on merit rather than race; equal academic support for both black and white players; better medical treatment for all players; and efforts to integrate the all-white coaching staff. The university didn’t respond and the players boycotted spring practice in 1970, leading to the dismissal of seven of the players from the team, which only heightened racial tensions surrounding the program and Ben Schwartzwalder, its Hall of Fame coach. Interviews with the Syracuse Eight about how this episode changed their lives is central to the retelling of this long-ago tumultuous period in Syracuse football history.
Here’s an excerpt from Leveling the Playing Field:
“In a society where choosing which side to root for often takes priority over other forms of authentic discovery and engagement, it may be tempting to sum up the story of the Syracuse Eight as a conflict between a ‘racist white’ football coach and a group of ‘militant black’ student athletes. The temptation is worth resisting. What little truth there is in that characterization only tends to obscure the complexity of a more compelling human drama that touches not only on race and sports, but on generational conflict, American cultural history, the ability of institutions to cope with change, and the struggle of individuals for personal dignity.
“On that last matter, personal dignity, the coach [Ben Schtwartzwalder] was as much consumed by that struggle as any member of the Syracuse Eight.”
