041905 Davis.JPG
Ernie Davis of Syracuse University, 1959, against Boston University.
(The Associated Press)
Syracuse, N.Y. — Troy Henderson remembers watching "The Express" with his grandfather, Richard Henderson, shortly after the movie came out in 2008.
"That's your Uncle Ernie," Troy recalled his grandfather telling him.
Soon after, Henderson learned that Davis was childhood companions with his grandfather, growing up together in Uniontown, Pa., a small industrial city about 45 miles south of Pittsburgh. And a few years later, Henderson is now verbally committed to play linebacker at Syracuse.
But the two families are not related by blood, the elder Henderson said in a phone interview on Saturday. Richard and Ernie lived across the street from each other on 7th Avenue.
"I was quite older than he was, but we played like we were all the same age because we were all in the same neighborhood," Henderson said. "You lived across the street or up the next road from each other. We were like a group of community kids."
Henderson was about three and a half years older than Davis, who lived with his maternal grandparents, Willie and Elizabeth, in Uniontown from 14 months until he moved to Elmira, N.Y. with his mother, Marie Davis, at 12.
Most of the time, Henderson remembers Davis watching the other older neighborhood kids play pickup football. Davis' uncles, Willie Jr. and Charles "Chuck" Davis — whom Ernie viewed as brothers — were often involved in the games.
Chuck was about a year older than Ernie, and went on to become a two-time All-American basketball player at Westminster College. Willie Jr. was about five years older than Ernie.
"We were all raised as brothers and sisters," Ernie's aunt, Angeline McLee, said in a phone interview on Tuesday. "He was really our nephew."
Willie and Chuck were better athletes back then, Henderson said. There was no sign Ernie would go on to be a two-time All-American running back, 1961 Heisman Trophy winner and the No. 1 overall selection in the 1962 NFL Draft, Henderson said.
"He wasn't very athletic when he was coming along," Henderson said. "We were a lot bigger than he was at the time. He didn't play with us much. He watched, but he never played with us much because we were a lot bigger and rougher than he was."
Henderson remembers for part of Davis' childhood, he suffered from Impetigo, a contagious bacterial skin infection most common in young children.
McLee, who still lives in Uniontown, recalls it being a recurring problem during one of Davis' last summers before moving to Elmira.
This caused Davis' nose to run frequently and usually kept other children away, Henderson said.
"The kids didn't like to play with him because his nose ran all the time," Henderson said. "
Around the time Davis moved to Elmira — where his two All-American honors at Elmira Free Academy would springboard him to Syracuse — Henderson joined the Navy, serving four years as a Seabee in a construction battalion.
Davis continued to visit his family and friends in Uniontown during summers. When Henderson returned, he learned of Davis' growth from onlooker to star running back (and a pretty good basketball player, too).
Henderson said the two met twice more before Davis died of acute monocytic leukemia at only 23.
"You never knew that he was a good football player because he didn't talk about it," Henderson said. "We'd just reminisce about old times."
Now, more than 60 years after Davis and Henderson shared a neighborhood, Henderson's grandson, Troy, is coming to Syracuse to play linebacker.
After watching "The Express," Troy said grandfather and grandson walked along the train tracks in Uniontown that actor Rob Brown, portraying Davis, ran down in the movie.
Troy noticed more of the same scene settings when he came on an unofficial visit to Syracuse in April.
"It was kind of cool re-watching the movie, trying to see where we were at in each scene of the movie," Henderson said.
Throughout his recruiting process, Henderson kept the connection quiet. The only person at Syracuse he told was recruiting director Eric White.
Now coming to SU, Henderson embraces Davis' legacy, but his goal is to carve out his own path as a football player and person.
Said Henderson: "I want to do my own thing."
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