Ernie davis football biography wikipedia

Ernie Davis

Ernie Davis was the first African American to win the coveted Heisman trophy. Playing at Syracuse, he broke Jim Brown's rushing, scoring and touchdown records and helped lead the team to a national championship.

Davis seemed destined for an extraordinary professional career in the NFL but sadly he passed away from Luekemia at the young age of 23, never getting the opportunity to play a single down in proffessional football.

Ernest R. Davis was born on December 14, in New Salem, Pennsylvania.

Ernie davis biography

His parents split up when he was an infant, and his father was killed in an accident before his second birthday. Ernie’s mother, Marie Davis, sent him to live with her parents, Elizabeth and Willie, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

The family was poor, and the town, located an hour south of Pittsburgh, wasn't any better off. Ernie stuttered as a child. Over the years, as he was forced to speak more and more in public, he managed to overcome this problem.

By age 12, D