Walt Singer

Walter Wallace Singer (December 6, 1911 – February 5, 1992) was an American college football player at Syracuse University, and a professional football player in the National Football League for the New York Giants. He was also a sub-novice Intercollegiate boxing heavyweight champion, and hit a pivotal home run in the 1943 North African World Series to lead the Casablanca Yankees to victory over the Algiers Street Walkers.

Early years Singer was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 6, 1911, and was Jewish. He had an identical twin brother, Milton.

Singer attended William L. Dickinson High School in Jersey City. In 1930 he (as an end, and achieving First-Team All-State football honors) and his brother (at running back, and achieving honorable mention for All-State football player honors) led the Dickinson football team to a 9–0 record as it became the second-ever Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association champion. He also played baseball for the high school team, as a catcher, alongside his brother, who was an All-State first baseman. He played end for the Syracuse Orangemen football team for three seasons, from 1932 to 1934, alongside his brother, who was the team's starting center.

He and his brother also played baseball for Syracuse in 1933.

NFL Singer played offensive end and defensive end for the New York Giants in the NFL in 1935 – the year that the Giants won the NFL East – and in 1936. He then went to the Jersey City Giants football team as player-coach, until he was drafted during World War II. In 1936 he also served as the athletic director of the Jersey City Community Center.

World War II As a private in the US Army, Singer tried out at Fort Dix, New Jersey, for the 44th Infantry Division baseball team in April 1941. In April 1943, he was a lieutenant stationed in Africa. He played in the North African World Series, a best two-out-of-three-game baseball championship played on October 3 and 4, 1943 in Algiers, Algeria, between the Casablanca Yankees and the Algiers Streetwalkers, drawn from the ranks of American soldiers and sailors stationed in North Africa during World War II. Singer, the only officer in the games, Singer ultimately reached the rank of major.

Death and legacy Singer died on February 5, 1992, at the age of 80.

In 1999, Singer received The Star Ledger All-New Jersey 1930's honorable mention (high school). In 2000, he was inducted into the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame.