Ernie Davis the 1961 Heisman Trophy winner as College Football’s best player was born on this day in 1939. Ernie Davis’s story is one of the sad stories in sports. He became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961 at Syracuse. He was an All-American for two seasons while at Syracuse. He was the first overall pick by the Washington Redskins but was traded to the Cleveland Browns.After he was drafted by the Washington Redskins he said he would never play for them because of the notorious racist George Marshall who was the Redskins owner. He would never play a game in the NFL. Before his rookie season Ernie Davis was diagnosed with leukemia. Ernie Davis died May 18th, 1963 at the age of 23. Davis looked like a can’t miss prospect. He would have joined fellow Syracuse Orangeman and the greatest running back in NFL history JimBrown in the Browns backfield. A few years ago a movie was made about the life of Ernie Davis “The Express’