The Elmira Express

Forty years ago, a halfback nicknamed the Elmira Express won the Heisman Trophy,
an award that recognizes the outstanding college football player in the nation. He received the bronze trophy at a program in New York City on Dec. 6, 1961.

Ernie Davis was a two-time first-team All-American halfback at Syracuse - the only Syracuse player ever to win the Heisman. He was a graduate of Elmira Free Academy - the only New Yorker ever to win the award. And he was the first black player so honored.

He was a standout athlete, from youth leagues through Elmira Free Academy and his college career. He starred in three sports at EFA but gave up basketball and baseball to concentrate on football at Syracuse, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics.

He led Syracuse to an undefeated national championship season in 1959 and was voted Most Valuable Player of the 1960 Cotton Bowl and the 1961 Liberty Bowl.

Davis was the first player taken in the 1962 NFL draft and was signed by the Cleveland Browns. But he was stricken with leukemia that offseason and never played a game as a professional. He was 23 when he died on May 18, 1963.

Born in Pennsylvania, Ernie Davis is still remembered and revered in the city where he grew up and grew into an exceptional sports star and, by all accounts, an exceptional individual. This special section pays tribute to the athlete and the man, who lives on - forever young - in the hearts of all who knew him, and those of us who wish we did.