Circa 1956 Ernie David Practice Worn High School
Jersey Sourced from from High School Coach.
"The Express" honed his craft on the football fields of Upstate New York
in the mid 1950s and wore this white jersey with royal blue trim and
numerals during practices at Elmira Free Academy. It sources from Ernie
Davis' high school coach, Marty Harrigan and is signed on the front by
Harrigan with personalization: "Ernie's Practice Jersey EFA. The vintage
jersey shows excellent use with blood stains on the front. There's a
MacGregor size 44 tag inside the tail. Davis played his college ball two
hours up the road at Syracuse University, where he is held in reverence
today as the Carrier Dome memorialized him with the "Ernie Davis Room."
Attending Elmira Free Academy, he earned two All American honors.
Although recruited to numerous universities, eventually Davis made his
way to Syracuse after discussion with Jim Brown. His childhood hero,
Brown led him in the direction of the 1961 Heisman. Sadly, the future
and potential Cleveland Brown legend was diagnosed with leukemia and
never played in a professional contest. Dying at the age of 23, a
football nation was stunned and mourned. This jersey was worn when Davis
showed his real talent on the gridiron in 1956 at age 17. This Jersey represents the 2nd earliest known Ernie Davis used football related artifact!
The jersey comes with a provenance receipt from Lelands, where it was obtained in auction.