When most people hear the name Ernie Davis, it usually congers up a "who's he" response, especially from those who believe that anything prior to 1990 in sports is ancient history. Well maybe so, but you should know that Ernie Davis was the first Afro-American to win the Heisman trophy award, doing so in 1961 playing for Syracuse University following in the footsteps of another famous Syracuse running back, that maybe you have heard of, Jim Brown.

Ernie Davis won the Heisman trophy that year in the second closest voting in the history of the Heisman trophy by only 53 points over a bruising fullback out of Ohio State named Bob Ferguson. Davis was his team's leading ground-gainer for three seasons. He broke Jim Brown's Syracuse career records in rushing (2,386 yards); total yards from scrimmage (3,414), scoring (220 points) and touchdowns (35) at Syracuse. All of these fantastic numbers coming during a time when the college football season was only 9 games long and freshman were ineligible to play varsity football. To date, Syracuse has had one single national championship and one Heisman trophy winner and Ernie Davis was responsible for both. At a special ceremony honoring Davis in his home town of Elmira, New York Davis received a telegraph from then President John Kennedy that read "Seldom has an athlete been more deserving of such a tribute. Your high standards of performance on the field and off the field reflect the finest qualities of competition, sportsmanship and citizenship. The nation has bestowed upon you its highest awards for your athletic achievements. It's a privilege for me to address you tonight as an outstanding American, and as a worthy example of our youth. I salute you."

Davis encountered sever racism during his time at Syracuse, including taunts and ridicule from fans of opposing teams, most dramatically during the 1960 Cotton Bowl against the University of Texas. Syracuse defeated Texas that day by the score of 23 to 14. Ernie Davis caught an 87-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring and added a one-yard run to give Syracuse a 15-0 halftime lead. Davis also intercepted a pass to set up another score, after which he caught a two-point conversion pass. Despite Davis winning the most valuable player award for his Cotton Bowl performance, he was told that he could not attend the banquet; that he would only be allowed to accept the MVP award and then would have to leave. Davis and his teammates boycotted the banquet in protest.

Despite all of these impressive credentials, Davis never played a single down in the NFL. Many of you may wonder why. Well, to cap off this story book college career Davis also became the first Afro-American to be drafted number 1 by the NFL, being selected by the Washington Redskins, who then traded Davis to the Cleveland Browns who had visions of teaming Davis with Jim Brown to form the greatest running back duo in the NFL, but it was never to be. The reason for this is because while preparing for the 1962 College All-Star game Davis was diagnosed with Leukemia during a routine physical. Ernie died on May 18th 1963, at the age of 23 slightly more than a year after he was diagnosed. Following his death, the Cleveland Browns retired his never wore jersey number 45 in his honor. During his career at Syracuse, Davis continued the tradition set by Jim Brown in wearing the number 44. Besides Davis and Brown, this number was also worn by great Syracuse backs such as Jim Nance and Floyd Little. To honor these great running backs, Syracuse officially retired the number 44 on November 15, 2005. In a Final note, Davis was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

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Lloyds Apple said:

	Bugeatersteve- Great story man. Thanks for sharing.
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March 18, 2008
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onearmedbandit said:

	I'd like to think I know everything about sports, but this is a story I hadn't heard. Thanks a lot Bugeater. So many great stories are lost to time or ignorance. Keep up the good work.
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March 19, 2008
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JEH45 said:

	Bugeater: My thanks for the storyalso. Although I remember ernie, I was unaware of the comments of JFK, and did not know the banquet story. We sure have seen some stuff in our years haven't we. In 61 a black man can't go to a banquet and 08 one can be president. Amazing stuff-thanks!
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March 20, 2008
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Bugeatersteve said:

	Thanks for reading guys. Yea JEH45 you are correct about how "time marches on". I was inspired to write the story because of a movie preview I saw this past weekend. It is due for release in the middle of football season October 10, 2008, it will star Rob Brown in the title role and Dennis Quaid as his coach.
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March 20, 2008
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corey ocheltree said:

	Dude ernie davis was the shit....fo sho
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October 29, 2008
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Bugeatersteve said:

	Hey thanks for bumping this back up. I completely forgot that I wrote this earlier this year. Playing at the movie theater right now.
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October 29, 2008
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