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Two more Ernie excerpts ...

ODESSA, Aug. 29 -- We hereby present another in a series of excerpts from the Bob Hill-compiled compendium of Ernie Davis news articles, explained in the story below.

We actually have two to offer. The first is short, and places Ernie's death in historic context -- gives an idea of just how long ago we lost him.

In an article headlined "President Sends His Condolences," we find that:

"President Kennedy this morning wired Mrs. Arthur Radford, mother of the late Ernie Davis, as follows:

"'I would like to express my sympathy to you on the occasion of the death of your son. I had the privilege of meeting Ernie after he had won the Heisman Trophy. He was an outstanding young man of great character who consistently served as an inspiration to the other people of the country.'

"The telegram was simply signed John F. Kennedy."

Then we move the calendar back even farther, to Ernie's days at Syracuse. In an article titled "Syracuse Belongs to Mr. Davis," the Knickerbocker News' Bob McNamara wrote about the end of a game and its aftermath:

"SYRACUSE -- This is Ernie Davis' town. He has its heart strings. He is its champion.

"Whether it be in a hotel elevator or at a filling station pump, he is the topic of conversation. Even the plush department stores along Salina Street have devoted entire window displays to him. There are mannequins attired in the bright orange of Syracuse bearing the legend of No. 44.

"Across town, high on a hill, sits Archbold Stadium, home of the All-American. Late afternoon shadows fall across the field and Davis stands proudly, hands on hips, in front of the Orange bench. Holy Cross is on the wrong end of a 34-6 score. It is only a matter of time.

"Kids are buzzing like hornets behind him now, standing their distance, awaiting the end. Ben Schwartzwalder throws an arm around the All-American and then heads across the field. The kids are moving in now and Davis starts to run. One grabs him playfully by the breeches and the rock-ribbed halfback laughingly tosses him in the air like a ball.

"As No. 44 melts into the crowd, you can hear the hot dog vendors, the kids in warm-up jackets and dungarees, and the men attired in Park Avenue cloth cry the same theme.

"'Where's Davis? ... Hey, where'd Ernie go? ... You see Davis? ... He's alright, isn't he? ... What a beautiful game he played.'

"The cries numb your ears as you head toward the clubhouse. You understand. Ernie Davis is Syracuse. He is everywhere. This is his town."

Here comes The Express ...

By Charlie Haeffner

ODESSA, Aug. 17 -- I was operating a sports memorabilia business -- at that point selling items on eBay rather than occupying a space on the show circuit, as I had early in my business career -- when I secured ownership of a softcover book with a rough, pasted-on title: Ernie Davis, A Historical Perspective.

The book -- one of only a relative few published, I'm told -- contains page after dog-eared page of newspaper and magazine articles (all Xeroxed) about Davis, starting with his early days and chronicling his achievements through high school (at Elmira Free Academy) and college (Syracuse University). It also contains written examples of the widespread grief that greeted his death, and memorials that were printed at the time and in the years that followed.

It was compiled by a gentleman named Bob Hill in 1997 (for an addendum on that, see Hill). I obtained it from Al Mallette, former sports editor of the Elmira Star-Gazette, and I've kept it on my bookshelf ever since while selling off other items I purchased from Al, including a photo autographed by Davis. A couple of customers wanted to buy the book, but I chose to keep it.

That's the what. The why in telling you about it is this: I've long been fascinated by Ernie Davis, and even remember reading of his passing at the time it occurred. I was living in Michigan back then -- still a youth -- and read the Detroit Free Press daily. The story appeared in that publication. We're talking 1963. Davis died on May 18 of that year, a victim of leukemia.

Now it is 45 years later, and a movie has been made about Ernie called The Express -- for his nickname was The Elmira Express. He was the first black Heisman Trophy winner, nationally celebrated, honored for his football exploits at Syracuse. He was also an outstanding basketball player in high school.

It's all there in the book on my shelf. I pulled it down the other day, when I heard a TV ad that said the Ernie Davis film was being released nationwide on Oct. 10. The date jumped out at me, since that's my birthday. (The special world premiere of The Express is in Syracuse on Friday, September 12.)

I dusted off the book and opened it and was quickly drawn in. There is an immediacy in news articles, and it is a simple matter, when faced by such a gathering of them (575 pages worth), to imagine the stories they tell have just occurred -- even though 45 years and more have passed

I've decided to present excerpts from those pages periodically until the opening of the film. I won't do it chronologically, but rather by whichever article or portion thereof strikes my fancy at the time. The first one I've selected came upon the death of Davis, and was carried first in the Buffalo Courier-Express, and then in a column by Mallette in the Star-Gazette on May 25, 1963.

It goes like this:

"Truly, Sam," Honest Harry said. "He was the All-America boy. He was the boy millions and millions of fathers have dreamed about.

"He was tall and strong, bull-shouldered and iron-legged, lithe and quick as a panther -- and, today, they are going to bury him.

"Today, Sam, they're going to bury Ernie Davis.

"I marveled at his football skills many times on television, Sam -- and I saw him once in the flesh. I'll never forget that one time.

"I have reason not to forget.

"It was a warm night in War Memorial -- last June in the All-American Game, shortly after Ernie had cast his pro football lot with the Browns.

"Davis had chosen the Browns -- and had turned down a lucrative offer from the (Buffalo) Bills -- because he wished to play in the same backfield with his boyhood idol, Jim Brown.

"When Ernie stepped onto the stadium field that night -- and his name was announced -- the boos and jeers of 22,000 Bills fans rent the air.

"And the fans never let him up. Throughout the game, they booed Ernie at every opportunity.

"It's a strange world, Sam -- because that was the last game of Ernie Davis's life.

"Imagine, Sam -- Ernie Davis, one of the truly great players of all time, cruelly mistreated by the crowd the last time he carried a football!

"I'll never forget Ernie Davis and that June night at the Stadium. How can I? I was one of those selfish Bills fans.

"This morning, Sam, I couldn't get Ernie Davis out of my mind -- so I did something.

"I said a prayer.

"Sam, I have a feeling my prayer was part of a beautiful bouquet to Ernie Davis -- a beautiful bouquet of 22,000 prayers."

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Photo in text: Ernie Davis with his Heisman Trophy