A historically significant documentary, Gridiron Underground, chronicles the early struggles of some of the first African-Americans to play in the CFL.

The film is served up as a love letter to Canada and the CFL fans who accepted them with open arms. The stories of quarterbacks such as Bernie Custis, Chuck Ealey, Warren Moon and Henry Burris are portraits of courage and perseverance in the face of racial prejudice.

While the NFL didn’t believe black athletes could play quarterback, Canada opened its doors.

Also featured are running back Johnny Bright, defensive back John Williams Sr., defensive lineman Bruce Smith, defensive back Ed Jones, defensive player Rollie Miles and kick returner Henry (Gizmo) Williams, with cameos by Michael (Pinball) Clemons and Damon Allen.

This film is especially relevant for February, Black History Month, and because the Ontario Black History Society, along with the Toronto District School Board, provided seed money to get the movie on the rails.

Clocking in at 73 minutes, Gridiron Underground weaves in player and family interviews with archival photos and game footage, all scored effectively, with the theme that there were no guarantees of greatness, only the freedom to choose it.

The central figure is Custis, now 86, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns out of Syracuse, but wasn’t allowed to try out at quarterback. Browns coach Paul Brown advised him to go to Canada and he did.

He took the train, arriving in Hamilton at 2 a.m., in effect initiating football’s “underground railroad” and serving up a perfect metaphor for the film’s title.

Custis became the first black quarterback in professional football in 1951.

“He should be a national treasure,” the film’s executive producer Bill Armstrong of Toronto’s Strongwall Productions said over the phone.

Prior to this, in 1946, Jackie Robinson played with the Montreal Royals, which was the top farm team of baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers.

Robinson was yet to break baseball’s colour barrier in America, but his story serves as a key backdrop to the tolerant and cosmopolitan city of Montreal. At that time, Lew Hayman formed the Alouettes with the plan to integrate the black athlete in football.

Gridiron Underground opens in 1951 with Johnny Bright, who was playing for Drake University. He had the Heisman Trophy within his grasp, the film tells viewers, but he was targeted by “designated hitters” who broke his jaw. He came to Canada.

Narrating the film is John Williams Jr., who played for eight seasons in the CFL. With his father, John Williams Sr., they are the only African-American father and son team to have their names inscribed on the Grey Cup.

For these black athletes, some reared in tough neighbourhoods in the southern states, where there were no city pools to play in and rules against associating with white people, football promised a way out.

Unfortunately, Canada presented an initial shock to the system when they were greeted by dreary-looking stadiums (to them) and cold weather.

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Ealey, who was a rookie when he led the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to a 1972 Grey Cup victory, smoothed the trail for the likes of Moon, who credits the CFL for saving his football career,

Tighter editing would have made Gridiron Underground crisper at 60 minutes or less. Another quibble is that the film leaps back and forth between subjects too much, creating a slightly jarring effect.

Overall, Gridiron Underground qualifies as a very good Canadian sports documentary that does two things rather well: It resonates with historical significance and it is a tender portrait of lives that were changed forever by Canada and the CFL.

It was shown at SilverCity Oakville last November. By early this summer, the project will be available as a DVD to all CFL fans, through the Strongwall Productions website and possibly through the CFL and their franchises.