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On
Thursday night March 8th, 2001 the ESPN Classic channel showed a special
about one of the 50 greatest sports legends of the 20th Century. Sadly,
even in his hometown (where the ESPN Classic Channel is not available
through its local cable carrier) the greatness of Ernie Davis was
prevented from being realized again.
Yet you might feel that Ernie Davis, legend or
not, should have no place on a web site devoted to Uniontown Red
Raiders. Here is our only defense. The web site for the Ernie
Davis Middle School in Elmira New
York. Schools, statues and monuments have been erected to honor this man
in his adopted hometown (he moved there when he was 12 years old), yet
in his real hometown his memory has all but been forgotten.
Uniontown's city fathers have not erected as much as a plaque, or a
painting in his memory. Uniontown's media outlets have ignored
him.
He is not alone in being abandoned historically. The
memory of the very first player inducted into the Basketball Hall of
Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, Charles Hyatt has been neglected
too. And so has Americas first ever African-American quarterback, Sandy
Stephens. Proof of that came last year, after Stephens died and his
funeral was held in Uniontown. Not a single member of Uniontown's city
government nor representative of any local newspaper bothered to show up
for the emotional service.
And it's not like Uniontown develops historical amnesia
regarding her native sons. It is ironic that in this age of Welfare
Reform, General George C. Marshall has grown in importance in some local
circles. There are parks, plaques, buildings and plazas dedicated to the
man, who in one swipe of a pen set in motion the largest Welfare system
in world history - The Marshall Plan.
It should then be of no surprise to anybody that Red Raider
Nation has sought to honor Ernie Davis - All-American, Heisman Trophy
Winner and native of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. In short, it is
something we felt we should do. No! It is something WE HAD to do.
Below you will find the Internet companion to the ESPN Classic Network's
special on OUR Ernie Davis.
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"The
way he carried himself, the way he did not drown in his own tears, the
way that he did not hang on his sickness, the way that he functioned as
a human being under all of those conditions was tremendous
courage," says
Jim Brown about Ernie Davis.
Courtesy ESPN,
By Bob Carter
HEISMAN HERO
 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 unlucky. My 23rd birthday was December 14. In these years I have had more than most people get in a lifetime."
Two months later, Davis died.
Davis was a coach's dream: modest, hard working, team-oriented, a sportsman who never put down opponents or teammates. "An excellent practice player. He lapped everyone," said John Mackey, a Syracuse teammate who later starred in the NFL.
Davis never took himself that seriously. He was quiet, a stutterer as a child who improved his speech as demands on his public speaking increased. He remained appreciative of those who helped him on the road to fame.
Friends noticed. Ben Schwartzwalder, his football coach at Syracuse, said, "I never met another human being as good as Ernie."
Davis was born on Dec. 14, 1939, in New Salem, Pa. His parents separated shortly after his birth, and his father was soon killed in an accident. He grew up in poverty in Uniontown, a coal-mining town 50 miles south of Pittsburgh, where he was raised by caring grandparents.
At 12, Davis moved to live with his mother and stepfather in Elmira. A high school All-American in football and basketball, he won 11 letters at Elmira Free Academy. Of the three sports he played, he thought he was weakest in baseball, though a scout once predicted that with some refinements in his swing, Davis could become a major leaguer.
The growing media attention never changed him. "Ernie was the same kid at the end he was at the start," said Jim Flynn, his high school basketball coach.
More than 30 colleges, including UCLA and Notre Dame, recruited Davis for football, but Syracuse, just 90 miles away, held an advantage. Syracuse also had a famous player in its corner, Jim Brown, the first in a line of star running backs with the Orangemen.
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