Ernie Davis

Ernest Davis ( born December 14, 1939 † May 18, 1963 ) was an US- American football player at the position of the running backs. Davis, who was nicknamed Elmira Express, was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.

In college football, he played with the number 44 for the Syracuse University and helped his team for the first title ever. He was selected as the first player of the 1962 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins, but then immediately transferred in December 1961 to the Cleveland Browns. In the summer of 1962 he was diagnosed with leukemia, which Davis never played in the NFL.

In 2008 his life by Gary Fleder under the title The Express Rob Brown was filmed in the lead role, based on the book Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express by Robert C. Gallagher.