Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

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Pastor's Pulse

by Paul Leggett, Pastor

The Crown That Will Last Forever

October 2008

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” – I Corinthians 9:25

Even people who normally do not follow sports have been aware of Michael Phelps and the Olympic Redeem Basketball team after this summer.  Some of this focus will continue this month with the premiere of the film, The Express.  This film is the story of Ernie Davis and the legend of number 44, a story that is near and dear to Syracuse fans like myself.  The story, however, transcends the world of sports.  Davis was the focus of one of our services during Black History month several years ago.  The story, I presume, is well known enough so that summarizing it will hopefully not spoil the movie.

In 1953, only six years after Jackie Robinson had become the first African-American in major league baseball, another incredibly gifted African-American entered Syracuse University.  He had been recruited to play lacrosse.  He also played football and was given the uniform with no. 44 simply because it hadn’t been assigned to anyone else.  The young man’s name was Jim Brown.  Today he is regarded by many as both the greatest lacrosse and football player of all time.  Brown, however, struggled with racism at Syracuse.  The situation was worse in other parts of the country.  When Syracuse was invited to play in the Cotton Bowl in 1957, the Bowl Committee tried to have Brown stay with a black family since blacks weren’t accepted in white hotels in Dallas.  In spite of Brown’s incredible achievements on the football field he did not win the Heisman Trophy given annually to the best player in the country.  The reason was simple.  No African-American had ever won it.

Brown felt the racial situation at Syracuse had improved during his time there and he helped to recruit another African-American star, Ernie Davis.  Davis was promised Brown’s no. 44 if he came to Syracuse.  Davis accepted and in 1961 he became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy (Davis in turn recruited another future Hall of Fame player named Floyd Little).  Following graduation Davis was recruited to play with Jim Brown for the Cleveland Browns in the pros.  They had the potential to be the greatest running duo in football history.  However, before any of this could happen, Davis was struck with leukemia.  He died less than a year later.  The Browns retired the no. 45 he would have worn (no. 44 was not available).  This, I believe, is the only occasion in pro sports that a uniform was retired in honor of a player who actually never wore it in a game.

In the fall of 1962 during a Syracuse-Penn State game at Beaver Stadium on the campus of Penn State, Davis was sitting in street clothes on the Syracuse sideline.  When it was announced that he was present the entire stadium stood to their feet and applauded.  On September 13, when The Express was premiered in Syracuse, Joe Paterno, who had coached against Davis, brought the Penn State team back to Syracuse to help mark the event.  At this point Syracuse and Penn State no longer played because they were in different leagues.  Penn State returned for what at this point was a non-competitive game to help honor Davis.

Sports or not, this is a great story.  I can only imagine that Hollywood has taken this long to film it because it is almost too dramatic, too emotional.  There is a much more important point to Davis’ story.  Davis was a very devout Christian.  He offered a quiet but clear Christian testimony.  His faith was never more evident than in his illness.  It remains to be seen how Hollywood will handle Davis’ Christian faith.  Hopefully this will be a film to which we can invite non-Christian friends. In the final analysis the crucial point is not that Davis was the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.  The far more important truth is that he has received “a crown that will last forever.”

We need to pay attention as Hollywood does more Christian biographies.  Last year there was Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce.  Also next month a film biography of Billy Graham is scheduled to open.  Christian biographies remain one of the most effective ways to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Let’s pray Hollywood does them well.