‘Invisible No More’ highlights Wilmeth Sidat-Singh’s lasting impact at SU

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Scott Pitoniak and Rick Burton met in 2008, when Pitoniak was speaking at Syracuse about his book “Memories of Yankee Stadium.” Burton — a professor at SU’s Falk College — brought his entire honors class to listen to Pitoniak. After the event, the two instantly hit it off, connecting over their love of all things Syracuse.

More than five years later, Pitoniak found out about Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, the first Black football player at Syracuse. He reached out to Burton and realized how little coverage there was of him, despite his historic feats. That was when the two decided to write a book about Sidat-Singh’s accomplishments.

Sidat-Singh was a Syracuse quarterback and basketball player in the 1930s, more than 10 years before famous Black pioneers of sports integrated the game. Now, 90 years after Sidat-Singh attended SU, Pitoniak and Burton retold his story through their new historical fiction book “Invisible No More,” which was published on Dec. 5, 2023. The story details the trouble Sidat-Singh dealt with as a Black athlete, including not being allowed to play in multiple games in certain states.

Despite being the first Black football player ever at Syracuse, he’s relatively unknown to the public. Pitoniak and Burton are looking to bring awareness to the historical athlete through their book, providing insight to who they both call “the greatest athlete you’ve never heard of.”

Syracuse is known for Black football players who helped break barriers like Ernie Davis and Jim Brown. But Sidat-Singh came before them and dealt with challenges due to his race.

While on the team, he was not allowed to play in a game against Maryland due to a law forbidding Black players from dressing in games between Northern and Southern teams.

“He was not allowed to play when Syracuse went south of the Mason Dixon Line to play the University of Maryland. Black players were not allowed to play due to the ‘gentleman’s agreement,’” Pitoniak said.

The oppression Sidat-Singh encountered didn’t stop on the field. He was often denied media coverage along with being forced to sit out certain games. Though this didn’t stop Sidat-Singh.

Sidat-Singh first took the field for the Orange in 1937, signifying a pivotal moment in sports. Sidat-Singh was ahead of his time. In the NFL, over 40% of the quarterbacks who started in Week 1 of the 2023 season were Black.

“The Patrick Mahomes’ and the Jalen Hurts’ of the world probably have never heard of Wilmeth Sidat-Singh and yet they’re standing on his shoulder pads so to speak,” Pitoniak said.

The idea for “Invisible No More,” according to the authors, originated over eight years ago. Pitoniak had written several SU-related books such as “Forever Orange” and “Color Him Orange,” a story about former Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim.

Burton had written about World War II in the past, which was significant as Sidat-Singh died in a plane crash while training as a Tuskegee Airmen in 1943.

“It made sense for me but we also work hand in glove with each other on everything because we’ll show something to the other and say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this and, how do we make this stronger?’ So it’s a really strong partnership,” Burton said.

Because of Sidat-Singh’s death at a young age and the little media attention he received, there was little recollection of him. Pitoniak and Burton wanted to bring Sidat-Singh back to life through their historical fiction book.

“Invisible No More” follows aspiring Black journalist Brenna Sheldon, who stumbles upon Sidat-Singh and sees a potentially career-altering story.

“We felt in order to make this a modern story we needed to create a literary vehicle who stumbled upon this story…We wanted someone whom this story would really resonate with on a personal level,” Pitoniak said.

Sidat-Singh’s career and journey ended about 80 years ago, but his and Shelton’s stories are easily translated into today’s times. With their book, Pitoniak and Burton are making sure Sidat-Singh’s story will live on.

“Rick, and I believe that this is very much a, although it takes place 100 years earlier, it is very much a 21st century story, in that we live in a world sadly in which there are many people who are fearful of being who they really are,” Pitoniak said.