Davis, Ernest
Football
b. Dec. 14, 1939, New Salem, PA
d. May 18, 1963
Davis was recruited by Jim Brown to play football at Syracuse University, where he took Brown's number, 44, succeeded him as a running back, and broke most of his school rushing records.
Similar to Brown in size at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, in speed, and in elusiveness, Davis was the first black to win the Heisman Trophy as the nation's best college player, in 1961. He was also the first black player drafted by the NFL's Washington Redskins, who traded him to the Cleveland Browns, where he would be Jimmy Brown's teammate.
However, Davis never played pro football. While working out with the College All-Stars, he became ill and was diagnosed as having leukemia. He went to Cleveland's training camp, but never actually worked out with the team. After a brief remission, he died the following spring.