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Sept. 8, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Tulane football team took in an advanced screening of the movie The Express, the Ernie Davis Story Thursday night in Birmingham.

The movie tells the tale of Ernie Davis, a Heisman Trophy winning running back for Syracuse University from 1959-1961. A two-time All-American, Davis donned the famous number 44 for the Orangemen and led Syracuse to the national championship in 1959.

Host Troy Kropog and cameraman Michael Parenton document the Wave's trip to the movies

Scott Sidwell, Associate Athletic Director for Syracuse University and former Tulane baseball letterwinner and Associate Athletic Director, and Julie Brantley, Vice President of Community Outreach for Universal Studios, arranged the screening for the Wave through Universal Studios.

The Wave were the third college sports team to have viewed the movie, joining Syracuse and Virginia Tech. The world premiere is set for Sept. 12 at the Landmark in Syracuse, N.Y.

The first ever African-American Heisman Trophy winner, Davis fought racism at the 1960 Cotton Bowl. After being named the MVP of the Cotton Bowl, he was told he would have to leave the segregated hotel immediately following accepting the award at the bowl's banquet. Davis and his teammates boycotted the banquet.

He was the number one draft pick of the Washington Redskins in the 1962 NFL Draft, but never played a professional game after he was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia.

Fran Wood, of Allied Advertising and Public Relations in Atlanta, Ga. worked with The Carmike Summit 16 theatre in Birmingham to arrange the viewing.

"Some seasons there are movies that are very popular for sports teams and this is a very popular movie," Wood said. "We have teams that are trying to book the movie as fast as they can. It's great to be able to provide this private screening specifically for the Tulane football team."