The Man in the Jersey
"Ernie said, 'I'll do anything you want me to do.' That |
"Ernie worked hard when it wasn't popular to work hard to get good grades. It was easier for me to work hard and get good grades because he was there. He made it okay to do that." - Jack Moore teammate Elmira Blue Devils |
"He would always make you feel good about being around him. He was more concerned about me than he was about himself if the two of us were talking. He was the type of person you'd like your kids to be like. He was the type of person you'd like yourself to be like. I never met anybody like him." - Jack Moore |
"He had qualities people in education would like to see in all the kids we deal with - honesty, integrity, responsibility, self-direction, and a sense of community. You just wanted to be around him. He was honest with everybody." - Bill Fitzgerald, Dean of Students at Elmira Free Academy |
"He was a aman when he was a boy. This guy had done everything, and you wouldn't even know he was around except for his presence. He was a dominating figure without trying to be one. He raised all of us up. Made all of us better than we were and that includes myself. You couldn't be around him without feeling it. He was just special." - Jim Flynn |
"Ernie was perfect. You hope you will find one like him and you never do. He was the friendliest, happiest kid I ever met. In spite of his great skill, he was humble, so much a team man that the other boys idolized him as their team leader." - Ben Schwartzwalder Syracuse University Football Coach |
"The only problem you ever had with him was trying to get him off the football field. The average kid can't wait to get in the barn. Ernie'd say, 'Coach, I need the work.'" - Ben Schwartzwalder Syracuse University Football Coach |
"It would never bother Ernie Davis whether he won the Heisman Trophy or didn't win it. He never discussed it with me. That kid never looked for anything. All he ever though was, 'What can I do for you?'" - Tony DeFilippo - lawyer and personal advisor from Elmmra, NY |
"Everyone knew Ernie's athletic greatness, but few realized whata a great human he was. His concern for his fellow man, and his affection for children, was sincere." - Marty Harrigan - Elmira Blue Devils Football Coach |
"Ernie was as fine a man as he was an athlete - whether in the classroom, the dormitory or the playing field. He exemplified the highest standards of industry, integrity, responsibility and fidelity to duty." - William P. Tolley - Syracuse University Chancellor |
"He talked about everybody else but himself. He wanted to know how everybody back home was doing. he never talked about himself." - Avis Marie Davis Fleming - Ernie's mother |
"It will be a long time before we see a boy like Ernie Davis again. He was a great athlete, but more important, he was a great person. He is the finest boy I have ever met in my life." - Art Modell |