1963: Staubach | Ernie Davis of Syracuse University, 1959, against Boston University. 2003: J. Today, Davis is remembered for his sportsmanship, the grace with which he handled the racial intolerance of his time, and his courage in facing a disease that ultimately claimed his life. 2007: Tebow | From 14 months of age, Ernie was cared for by his maternal grandparents, Willie and Elizabeth Davis, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Your high standards of performance on the field and off the field, reflect the finest qualities of competition, sportsmanship and citizenship. The three got up to leave and when the teammates found out, they wanted to leave too, but were told that it would only cause a bigger problem, so they stayed. It was the most lucrative contract for an NFL rookie up to that time. When his cancer went into remission that fall, it seemed only a matter of time before he made his pro debut, but Cleveland coach Paul Brown feared for Davis' health and kept him on the sidelines. Davis is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York, the same cemetery in which Mark Twain is buried. Ernie Davis became the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy before his life was tragically cut short by leukemia at the age of 23. Considered one of the greatest boxers of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and by 1958, he had become the first boxer to win a divisional world championship five times. 1956: Hornung | 1965: Garrett | American Football Database is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. 1981: Allen | However, he never played a professional game, as he was diagnosed with leukemia in 1962 and died at the age of 23 years. I salute you. One Syracuse player, Gerhard Schwedes, recommended that the whole Syracuse team leave the banquet to show solidarity with their black teammates, but the suggestion was overruled by Syracuse officials. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, all the players from the game attended the banquet. Rockin’ the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, p.564, Jeffrey J. Miller, ECW Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-55022-797-0, List of Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterbacks, List of Washington Redskins starting quarterbacks. He was Davis' teammate at Syracuse and on the Cleveland Browns, his roommate and a close friend. 1969: Owens | 1987: Brown | Marshall could not bring himself to draft a black player, so he left the decision to general manager and head coach Bill McPeak, who picked Davis. 1958: Dawkins | Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier when he became the first Black athlete to play Major League Baseball after joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. 1989: Ware | 1986: Testaverde | Davis was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979. 1937: Frank | 1990: Detmer | 1972: Rodgers | Another statue of Davis stands on the campus of Syracuse University, near the steps of Hendricks Chapel and the Quad where pre-game pep rallies are held. A different account of the banquet is given by John Brown. Marshall’s statement prompted a concession by Udall. In Elmira, Davis excelled in baseball, football and basketball in grade school. 1973: Cappelletti | 1964: Huarte | A man of firsts, Davis was the first African American man to win the Heisman Trophy, the first to join the prestigious Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity (a nationally recognized fraternity that was initially all-Jewish) and, in 1962, the first African American player to be picked first overall in the NFL draft. 1995: George | The rift between Coach Brown and Modell worsened when Modell brought in doctors who said Davis was well enough to play. Redskins founder and owner George Preston Marshall was an open and unashamed racist, and kept the Redskins white long after the other teams had integrated. Newton, 1935: Berwanger | I salute you.". After winning the Heisman Trophy, Ernie Davis talked Floyd Little into doing an about face and play football for Syracuse instead of Notre Dame. November 28, 1961: Ernie Davis became the 1st African-American to win college football's most prestigious award, the Heisman Trophy. 1951: Kazmaier | "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. 2002: Palmer | 1942: Sinkwich | The 1960 Syracuse Orangemen finished with a record of 7–2 and did not play in a post-season bowl game. Davis was the first African-American to become part of the organization not only at the Syracuse chapter, but for the national fraternity as a whole. The building was named in his honor after its conversion to a middle school. Brown recalls that the teams sat on opposite sides of the room. One of the first African American college football stars, Kenny Washington was one of two Black athletes to reintegrate the NFL in 1946. White | 1946: G. Davis | Money was tight in their Uniontown, Pennsylvania, household, and Davis suffered from a bad stuttering problem, but he nevertheless received adequate care, and later credited those difficult early years with installing in him the virtues of discipline and family.