.Ernest R. Davis, commonly known as Ernie, was one of the best running backs ever to play college football.He born (December 14, 1939 – May 18, 1963).Ernie Davis the first African-American athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. Wearing number 44, Davis competed collegiately for Syracuse University before being drafted by the Washington Redskins, then almost immediately traded to the Cleveland Browns in December 1961. However, he would never play a professional game after developing leukemia in 1962. He is the subject of the 2008 Universal Pictures movie biography, The Express, based on the non-fiction book Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express, by Robert C. Gallagher. His parents separated shortly before his father died in an accident, and he was raised by his grandparents until age 12, when he moved with his mother and new stepfather to Elmira, New York.[2] He played in Elmira’s Small Fry Football League for the Superior Buicks and was named a Small Fry All-Star in both 1952 and 1953. He played basketball in grade school as well, also being chosen as an All-Star player.[1]Throughout his high school years at Elmira Free Academy, Davis’ talent on the football field became clear. He was named Elmira Player of the Year and high school All-American in both his junior and senior years. He also showed great athletic prowess in varsity basketball and baseball, all while excelling academically.At a time when many universities were not offering scholarships to black athletes, colleges from around the country watched Davis’ high school career closely, and more than 50 offered him scholarships.He followed the legendary Jim Brown to Syracuse University, where he led the Orangemen to a national championship in 1959, and in 1961 he became the first African American to be awarded the Heisman Trophy, given to the college game’s best player. On the precipice of a promising career with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), Davis was struck with leukemia. He never played in a single NFL game .In the summer of 1962, Davis was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia and began receiving medical treatment. The disease was incurable and he died in Cleveland Lakeside Hospital May 18,1963 at the age of 23. Both the House and the Senate of the United States Congress eulogized him, and he was waked in The Neighborhood House in Elmira, New York, where more than 10,000 mourners paid their respects. Davis is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira, Chemung County, New York, in the same cemetery in which Mark Twain is buried. His commemorative statue stands in front of Ernie Davis Middle School, which Davis attended as Elmira Free Academy during his high school years. The building was named in his honor after its conversion to a middle school.
