Tag: Ernie Davis

Watch: Josh Adams Wants to Rebuild Childhood Park

It was a tough season for former Notre Dame running back Josh Adams and the New York Jets.

It was a tough season for former Notre Dame running back Josh Adams and the New York Jets. A 2-14 record won’t even be enough to land Trevor Lawrence in the NFL draft. But Adams is putting all of that behind him as he focuses on a cause more meaningful than winning football games. Adams, a native of Warrington, Pennsylvania, is hoping to raise money to rebuild the park he frequented while growing up:

Adams just finished his third season in the NFL and second with the Jets. In eight games, he ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 5.4 yards a carry. Those touchdowns came in his first and last games of the season. He played in the Jets’ first two contests, then was activated from the practice squad for their final six.

Adams suited up for the Irish from 2015 to 2017. During that time, he compiled 3,201 yards and scored 22 touchdowns, 20 of which came on the ground. Since 1956, his 6.7 yards a carry for his career are the most for any player with an independent program, besting that of 1961 Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis by the slimmest of margins.

1963: The year 3 active Cleveland Browns players all tragically died

Ernie Davis, Don Fleming and Tom Bloom all passed away in the first 6 months of 1963

Most Browns fans, especially those born afterward, look back at the early 1960s as a triumphant time for the franchise. Cleveland was a perennial power, a team that didn’t have a losing record from 1957-1974. But there was some very real tragedy and heartbreak in the middle of that glorious run of yearly title contention.

In 1963, three active Cleveland Browns players all died tragically.

Tom Bloom hadn’t yet suited up for the team, but the Browns’ 6th-round pick from Purdue was expected to play a role for the team. The Browns were planning on moving the Boilermakers’ MVP full-time to safety, where he also thrived in college. Bloom died in January of 1963 (the draft was held in December at that time) in a car accident.

The most well-known is Ernie Davis. The No. 1 overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft was aiming to follow in Jim Brown’s footsteps: from standout rusher at Syracuse to All-Pro for the Browns. Alas, Davis was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after the Browns acquired him and he never played a down for the team. Davis passed away in Cleveland on May 18th.

Davis was a tremendously popular figure, a Heisman Trophy winner with a transcendent smile. President John F. Kennedy sent a eulogy to his funeral in Davis’ hometown of Elmira, New York, an event which over 10,000 attended. His No. 45, which he never actually wore in a game for the Browns, was retired by the franchise.

Don Fleming was the last of the tragedies. The safety was coming off a breakout 1962 season, his third in the NFL, when he was killed in an industrial accident while working in the offseason. Fleming and another man were electrocuted when a crane they were working on in Orlando accidentally brushed into a power line. They were killed instantly.

Fleming was killed on the same day, June 4th, that the Browns announced he had signed a new contract with the team. His No. 46 jersey is retired by the Browns and the practice field at Hiram College, where the Browns held training camp for several years, was named in his honor.

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Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little battling cancer

Former Syracuse and Denver Bronco great Floyd Little is battling cancer.

Former Syracuse and Denver Broncos great Floyd Little is battling cancer.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame running back “was recently diagnosed with a treatable but aggressive form of cancer. No doubt it will be the toughest fight of his life,” Pat Killorin, who played for Syracuse in the 1960s, wrote on the Friends of Floyd page.

A GoFundme has been set up in hopes of raising $250,000 to defray costs of the medical treatment for Little, 77, who lives in Las Vegas. As of this writing, more than $11,000 had been raised.

Floyd Little, #44, 3-time All America Running Back and College Football Hall of Famer from Syracuse University, and Pro Football Hall of Famer from the Denver Broncos, known for his generosity on and off the gridiron, is now confronting a challenge common to many sports fans. The challenge of cancer.

Floyd was recently diagnosed with a treatable but aggressive form of cancer. No doubt it will be the toughest fight of his life.

… Floyd has a wide community of support who expressed the desire to support him in prayer and in the expense of his cancer treatment. So we created this Friends of Floyd (“FOF”) Page with the permission of the Little Family to receive words of encouragement and to solicit funds to offset the financial burden this journey will take on Floyd and his family. We believe the last thing we want our friend Floyd to do is to worry about this expense or to give up in order to avoid it.

We don’t believe Floyd should have to make these kinds of choices when his focus must be on becoming the next cancer survivor we all celebrate.

Join FOF in supporting Floyd Little with a seed of love. No amount is too small or too large. Lets help Floyd sprint to the finish line. Lets help him finish this race strong.

Little was a three-time All-American at Syracuse from 1964-66. A bronze statue of Little stands outside the football team’s practice facility next to the two legendary running backs who preceded him: Jim Brown and Ernie Davis. Little chose to attend Syracuse, keeping a promise he made to Davis before Davis died of leukemia at age 23.

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Little was selected sixth overall in the 1967 combined AFL-NFL draft by the Broncos, going from the Syracuse Orange to the Denver orange. He spent his entire nine-year career with the franchise and rushed for 6,323 yards and 43 touchdowns. Little led the NFL in rushing yards (1,133) and yards from scrimmage (1,388) in 1971. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.

Little and his wife, DeBorah, now live in Las Vegas.