1961 Syracuse Orangemen football team

Schedule

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Statistics

Quarterback Dave Sarette was the team's passing leader. He completed 56 of 106 passes (51.9%) for 813 yards for nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Ernie Davis led the team in rushing with 823 yards on 150 carries for an average gain of 5.5 yards per attempt. Davis also caught 16 passes for 157 yards. He also led the team in scoring with 84 points on 14 touchdowns.

Davis was followed by Gary Fallon (299 yards, 66 carries, 4.5-yard average) and Bill Meyers (163 yards, 23 carries, 7.1-yard average).

The team's leading receivers were John Mackey (15 receptions, 321 yards) and Dick Easterly (12 receptions, 207 yards). Mackey later played tight end for the Baltimore Colts and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Awards and honors

Halfback Ernie Davis received numerous awards at the end of the 1961 season including the following:

• On November 28, 1961, Davis was announced at the winner of the Heisman Trophy as college football's player of the year. He was the first black player to receive the award. At the time, Davis called it "the thrill of a lifetime," "something you dream about but you never really believe it can happen to you."
• Davis was a unanimous first-team pick on the 1961 All-America college football team. He received first-team honors from the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, and The Sporting News, among others.
• He was also selected as the Associated Press Player of the Year and received the Chic Harley Award from the Touchdown Club of Columbus as the college football player of the year.

Davis was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 1962 NFL draft, but he was diagnosed with leukemia, never played professional football, and died in May 1963. He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

Four Syracuse players received honors from the AP or UPI on the 1961 All-Eastern football team: halfback Ernie Davis (AP-1, UPI-1), tackle John Brown, end John Mackey (AP-2, UPI-3), and center Bob Stern (UPI-2).

1962 NFL draft

Ernie Davis was the first black player to be chosen first overall in the NFL Draft. Davis was drafted by the Washington Redskins then traded to the Clevand Browns in the first round of the 1962 American Football League draft. However, he never played in the NFL; he was diagnosed with leukemia shortly before he was to enter the league, and he died in May 1963, less than a year after his diagnosis.

References

References

1. "2017 Syracuse football media guide".
2. "1961 Syracuse Orange Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
3. (October 1, 1961). "SU takes to the air". Sunday Press.
4. (October 8, 1961). "Maryland nips Orange". Sunday Call-Chronicle.
5. (October 22, 1961). "Syracuse Ailing, Hall Operating: State, 14-0, Holds Ernie To 36 Yards". The Sunday Press (Binghamton, NY).
6. (October 29, 1961). "Syracuse Crushes H.C., 34-6". The Boston Globe.
7. (November 5, 1961). "Syracuse Rolls, 28-9; Davis Eclipses Brown". New York Daily News.
8. Werden, Lincoln A.. (November 12, 1961). "Syracuse Routs Colgate, 51 to 8". [[The New York Times]].
9. Joe Doyle. (November 19, 1961). "Irish Stun Orange, 17-15: Second-Shot Field Goal Electrifying; Perkowski Boots 41-Yarder After Time Runs Out". The South Bend Tribune.
10. John Dell. (December 17, 1961). "Syracuse Shades Miami in 2d Half, 15-14". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
11. "1961 Syracuse Orange Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
12. (November 29, 1961). "Syracuse Back Enrie Davis Captures Heisman Trophy". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
13. (2016). "Football Award Winners". National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
14. "Ernie Davis". National Football Foundation.
15. (May 18, 1963). "Ernie Davis Dies Of Leukemia". The Ithaca Journal.
16. (December 1, 1961). "Kroll and Simms Are Voted To AP All-East First Team". The Daily Home News.
17. (December 7, 1961). "Penn State Puts Three on All-Eastern Team". [[The Beaver County Times]].
18. "Reference at www.pro-football-reference.com".
19. (4 December 1961). "Washington Picks 1st Negro on Team". Petaluma Argus-Courier.
20. Sports Illustrated, October 13, 2008, p.24
21. (23 December 1961). "Ernie Davis Joins Cleveland Browns". [[Syracuse Post-Standard]].
22. Rockin’ the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, p.564, Jeffrey J. Miller, ECW Press, 2007, {{ISBN. 978-1-55022-797-0