The idea for a book about the Syracuse 8 came more than 40 years ago, but the connection wasn’t there. Then came David Marc.

Marc sits in the Alumni Conference Room in the Women’s Building on the Syracuse University campus, discussing his latest book, “Leveling the Playing Field: The Story of the Syracuse 8” and frequently interrupts with facts about the eight key members of SU football and university history. The 344-page book was published by Syracuse University Press, making it the first book published by the university about a divisive time in its history.

The book, which came out over the summer, was written with oral histories of each member of the Syracuse 8 and features a foreword by former SU standout Jim Brown. The Syracuse 8 is a group of nine SU football players, mistakenly called the “Syracuse 8,” who petitioned for racial equality on the football team during the 1969-70 season. The group was kicked off the team and rejected reinstatement from the university.

While the idea for the book came more than 40 years ago, there wasn’t the right connection to have it written, said Larry Martin, the vice president of SU’s Office of Program Development.

“We’ve had many false starts with good will, but no one was able to accomplish it. At the same time, this is still a very sensitive subject,” Martin said. “There are people who won’t let go of the past and as a result, there are some bitter feelings out there about the book and I think David’s done a terrific job. It’s an honest appraisal of what happened.”

Marc said there were writers who were interested in the racial issue of the Syracuse 8 but didn’t know anything about football and there were people interested in the football issue who didn’t know anything about the racial issue.

“I saw the two were bound to each another and neither one could be slighted,” Marc said.

When discussing his inspiration for writing the book, Marc stops and tells the story of Ron Womack, a member of the Syracuse 8, who came to SU from West Virginia.

Womack was the first African-American high school student to win academic athlete of the year in West Virginia. Although a banquet is normally held to give the award, Marc said because of Womack’s skin color, the people who threw the banquet wouldn’t sit down and eat at the same table as him.

Instead, Womack was told to go to a trophy store to receive his award. A man at the store had put a note on the trophy that said to give it to Womack, Marc said.

Over the course of the five years of writing the book, Marc used documents available in the University Archives — located in Bird Library — and added that some of the documents available hadn’t been uncovered prior to his discovery.

“Leveling the Playing Field” — Marc’s 11th book — is his favorite because of the topic and the substance, he said.

“They are all just amazing people. They could have gone to dozens of schools, including the service academies; several were admitted to West Point and the Naval Academy,” Marc said. “They chose (Syracuse) because of the reputation Syracuse had of being a place that would be fair to black players and it turned out to be just the opposite.

While the book was Marc’s favorite, Martin said “nobody” thought it would ever be completed. Martin said the support of then-Chancellor Nancy Cantor, some members of the Board of Trustees, SU alumnus and NFL Hall of Famer Art Monk helped make the book possible.

The work will be on display during SU’s homecoming weekend, scheduled for Oct. 19-25.

“It’s been a culmination of many people and it’s been a great project — one of the highlights of my career,” said Martin, who has been at SU for more than 30 years. “It was just timing and with the right people, it just all came together.”

Forty-five years after the Syracuse 8 protested discrimination within the SU football program and more than 40 years after the idea for a book originated, there finally is one.

“These guys, they had it all,” Marc said. “They were living the dream. But there was injustice and an assault on their dignity and they wouldn’t stand for it and they were willing to risk everything.”

Published on September 22, 2015 at 10:19 pm

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306