By Jocelyn Selim

Ernie Davis’ Last Down

The Heisman Trophy winner broke professional and racial barriers before dying of cancer at 23

By Jocelyn Selim

Davis would have had more of a fighting chance if he had been diagnosed in the 21st century. “The improvements in treating AML haven’t been as dramatic as with some other cancers, but it’s still a success story,” says medical oncologist Fred Appelbaum, an AML specialist and the head of clinical research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Today, oncologists understand a lot more about the disease, and therapies are much more targeted toward a patient’s particular variety of the cancer. “We know now that certain drug combinations work better against certain subtypes,” says Appelbaum. “And there have been a number of chromosomal translocations and mutations that have been identified and that are particularly susceptible to certain drugs.” These targeted therapies can raise an AML patient’s odds of five-year survival as high as 80 percent in some cases. Besides understanding the genetics of the subtypes of the disease, doctors can better detect lurking cancer cells, thanks to new technologies, and are thus more able to evaluate remissions and react faster if a patient begins to relapse.

Since Davis’ subtype of AML was an aggressive one, a bone marrow transplant might have helped, killing off all of his marrow cells with a combination of drugs and radiation, and then reseeding the marrow with cells from a donor—but the procedure was extremely rare in the early 1960s. Had he been diagnosed today, his chances at being alive in three years would have jumped from about 5 percent to 30 percent.

At the time Davis walked onto the football field that August, all suited up for the Steelers game, his doctors estimated that he had between six and 12 months to live. He lived for nine. During that time, though he was too sick to play, he continued suiting up for practice. After interviewing Davis’ teammates, Gallagher describes how one of them remembered Davis’ mantra: “Just because I’m dying doesn’t mean I have to give up trying.” He died in his sleep on May 18, 1963.

To this day, Davis remains the pride of Elmira, which has honored him with a school in his name and a life-size statue. But by the time Davis died, he was far more than a hometown hero. Some 10,000 people attended Davis’ wake, his jersey numbers at Syracuse and in Cleveland were retired, and he was eulogized in both houses of Congress. Even now, 45 years after his death, a major movie about his life is scheduled for release this October.

Davis likely would have been pleased. “When I look back, I can’t call myself unlucky,” he wrote in his Saturday Evening Post memoir. “My 23rd birthday was December 14. In those years I have had more than most people get in a lifetime. I think everybody wants some kind of recognition, something that will pick them out of a crowd and make people admire them.”