The National Football League will hold the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin on April 24-26. The What We Need to Know Newsletter takes a look back at Little Known Black History Facts as they relate to African American football players, HBCUs and “Black Firsts” in the NFL.
Ernie Davis made history in 1961 by becoming the first Black player to win the coveted Heisman trophy as a standout player for Syracuse University.
Selected number one overall in the 1962 NFL draft, the All-American halfback’s life was tragically cut short.
Davis was born in 1939 in New Salem, Penn. He was a multi-sport prodigy in Elmira, New York, becoming a high school All-American in basketball and football. He famously led the Elmira Free Academy to 52 consecutive wins and it was said he would have excelled as a basketball player but football was his first love.