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Ernie davis movie

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Ernie Davis

American football player (1939–1963)

For other people named Ernest Davis, see Ernest Davis (disambiguation).

American football player

Ernest R. Davis (December 14, 1939 – May 18, 1963) was an American college football player who was a halfback for the Syracuse Orangemen who won the Heisman Trophy in 1961. He was the award's first black recipient.[1][2][3] Davis was selected first overall by the Washington Redskins in the 1962 NFL draft but was almost immediately traded to the Cleveland Browns.[4] He was diagnosed with leukemia that same year,[5][6] and died shortly after at age 23 without ever playing in a professional game.[3] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and was the subject of the 2008 film The Express: The Ernie Davis Story.

Early life

Davis was born in New Salem, Pennsylvania. His father was killed in an accident shortly after his birth, and his mother, Avis Marie Davis Fleming, could not raise him alone.[7] At 14 months, he was car

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 By Ron Flatter
Special to ESPN.com

Davis was a two-time All-American at Syracuse.
The honors came early and often, from the time he started with organized sports. Ernie Davis succeeded at every venue, a three-sport standout in high school, a two-time All-American halfback at Syracuse. He led Elmira (N.Y.) Free Academy to a 52-game winning streak in basketball and as a Syracuse sophomore helped the Orangemen gain their only national football championship. As a senior in 1961, he became the first African-American to receive the Heisman Trophy and was the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. And then, stunningly, he was gone. Struck down by leukemia, Davis never realized his dream of playing in the NFL. In March 1963, while in remission, Davis wrote an article for The Saturday Evening Post in which he said, "Some people say I am unlucky. I don't believe it. And I don't want to sound as if I am particularly brave or unusual. Sometimes I still get down, and sometimes I feel sorry for myself. Nobody is just one thing all the time. "But when I look back I can't call myself
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Ernie Davis was born on December 13, 1939 in New Salem, Pennsylvania, a small mining town of under 700 people about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. His parents separated and his father was killed in an automobile accident before he was born. Davis was sent at the age of fourteen months to live with his grandparents in industrial Uniontown, Pennsylvania, about fifteen miles from his birthplace. He was raised by his grandparents Willie, a coalminer, and Elizabeth with twelve other siblings until the age of 12 when he moved with his mother and stepfather to Elmira, New York.

Throughout his early life Davis participated in athletics, excelling in baseball, basketball and football. While playing football at Elmira Free Academy, Davis was named Elmira Player of the Year and high school All-American in both his junior and senior years. He was also a superb basketball player, leading Elmira Academy to 52 straight wins and earning the nickname "The Elmira Express." Professional careers in both baseball and basketball were possible for Davis, who ultimately played football, choosing Syracuse

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