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The Express
Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown, Omar Benson Miller, Clancy Brown, Charles S. Dutton
"I never met another human being as good as Ernie." - Ben Schwartzwalder, Syracuse University football coach
"Some people say I am unlucky. I don't believe it. 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." – Ernie Davis, The Saturday Evening Post, two months before his death
Who is the greatest running back of all time? Jim Brown? Walter Payton? Barry Sanders? Earl Campbell? O. J. Simpson? Red Grange? When the argument is batted around bars and on sports radio shows, no one ever mentions “The Elmira Express”, Ernie Davis. In an era before steroids, weight training, and multi-million dollar professional contracts, he was a man playing among boys. 6’1”, 205 pounds of pure muscle with his good nature and politeness, he was the type of young man people could not help but like and root for. Today we live in a time where athletes are pampered and told they are special from the time they are little, especially when they are successful. A Heisman Trophy, a national championship, called “the next Jim Brown” and “the greatest running back who ever lived,” named an All-American twice, the No. 1 draft pick by the NFL, if anyone deserved a bit of arrogance, it was Ernie Davis, but Ernie was always Ernie, the same good-natured kid who got off the bus from Elmira, New York. Team-oriented, a hard worker, both on and off the practice field, always giving everything he had, he was player coaches prayed for.
Ernie Davis’ life was not easy. Born into deep poverty, the child of a broken marriage, whose father died before he was even out of diapers, he was sent to live with his grandparents in the coal mining town of Uniontown, 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. Loved there, at 12, he came to the state of New York to live with his mother and her new husband. It was there that people realized Ernie was something special. Major league baseball scouts thought, with some coaching, he had the potential to be one of the greatest players to ever put on a jersey. He dominated the basketball court, and lead Elmira Free Academy to 56 straight victories on the gridiron. With more than 50 universities offering him scholarships, he could have played anywhere, but he wanted to stay close to home. He chose a school only 90 miles away, the orange and white of Syracuse, the place that had produced the greatest running back up until that time, Jim Brown. The only African-American on the freshman team, the next season he got to show the nation what he was made of. Wearing Jim Brown’s 44 and playing both defensive back and halfback, Ernie lead the Orangemen to a 10-0 record in the 1959 regular season. They crushed their opponents, outscoring them 390-59. Davis rambled for over 686 yards, averaging a little over 7 yards a carry.
With the whole nation watching, they went down to the Lone Star State to play Texas University in their own backyard, the Cotton Bowl, for The National Championship. It was also the heart of Dixie, the Jim Crow South. With racial tensions running high, a fight broke out between the teams before half time due to a racial slur delivered by one of the Longhorn linemen. Battling a hamstring pull, Ernie destroyed his opponents, including an 87-yard reception, a record at the time, and scoring two touchdowns. When the clock ran out, Syracuse won 23-14 and Davis was named the game’s MVP, which he was to be rewarded with later that evening at the awards banquet. One little problem, Ernie was black and he was not going to be allowed to eat with the white players. Instead he was told that he would be ushered in to receive the award and then escorted out right afterwards. In solidarity, his teammates boycotted the banquet and returned home as conquering heroes.
Lining up for his first play as a junior against Boston University, Ernie broke one for 80-yards. In typical Ernie fashion, when the sportswriters besieged him after the game, he gave all the credit to his teammates, stating, “Those blockers wiped everyone out. A little kid could have run that one.” Picked to repeat as national champions, five games in, they were upset by Pittsburgh and then lost again to Army the next week. With a disappointing 7-2 record, the Orangemen had to sit at home that post-season. Still, Ernie had again been amazing, running for 877 yards and averaging 7.8 yards, a school record, every time he touched the ball. Nineteen sixty-one brought another disappointing season for Syracuse, finishing with a regular season record of 7-3, but they got a chance to play in the Liberty Bowl. Davis rushed for 140 yards in the 15-14 victory over Miami. Ernie was rewarded for his 963 yards with the Heisman trophy, the first African-American given the award. He met President John Kennedy, which thrilled him. No one noticed that something was wrong with the young man. In his Heisman season, he averaged only 5.5 yards a carry.
Drafted by the Washington Redskins that December but quickly traded to Jim Brown’s Cleveland Browns, he signed a record three year contract for $65,000, plus a $15,000 bonus. He had smashed Jim Brown’s college records and it looked like he was going to do the same thing in the pros. In the college All-Star game against the Green Bay Packers, the trainer noticed some swelling on Ernie’s neck. Sent to the hospital for an examination, it was leukemia, although he was not told so for several months. The doctor only told him it was a blood disorder. Once told the news, Davis at first was despondent but decided he was going to battle the disease. For a while it looked like he had beat it, the leukemia went into remission. His blood counts were normal and Ernie wanted to return to the football field. Browns’ Coach Paul Brown did not want to risk the young man’s life and refused to let him suit up. Frustrated he was not going to be allowed to play because he felt he felt great, Ernie sat out. That spring, on May 16th, Ernie woke up and noticed the swelling had returned to his neck. Two days later he passed away in his sleep, just 23-years-old. More than 10,000 mourners paid their respects, the House and Senate eulogized him, and the Browns retired his number. Maybe the greatest running back ever, he left us too soon.
Given the popularity of sports picks and that the original Brian’s Song has been often called “the ultimate guys flick,” it was only a matter of time until Ernie’s story made it to the silver screen. Rob Brown, who amazed audiences in Finding Forrester, plays Davis, and Dennis Quaid is Coach Schwartzwalder, in this biopic based on Robert C. Gallagher’s biography Ernie Davis, the Elmira Express: the Story of a Heisman Trophy Winner. Given the subject matter, it is natural that this film is going to be compared to the James Caan/Billy Dee Williams classic. While it is not in that league, more than a few tears ran down my face during this movie. You can argue about who might be the greatest running back ever, but it would be hard to argue after this pic that a better human being ever took the field.
Verdict: Another Very Good Sports Biopic