The Express (2008)

"Some people say I am unlucky. I don't believe it. And I don't want to sound as if I am particularly brave or unusual. Sometimes I still get down, and sometimes I feel sorry for myself. Nobody is just one thing all the time. But when I look back I can't call myself unlucky. My 23rd birthday was December 14. In these years I have had more than most people get in a lifetime." -Ernie Davis




1963년 5월 18일 그의 장례식에는 1만명이 넘는 하객들이 그의 마지막을 함께 했다. 흑인 최초로 Heisman Trophy트로피를 받은 그는 leukemia로 인하여 23이라는 젊은 나이로 삶을마감하게 된다. 그전까지 우승해본 경험이 없는 Syracuse University를 2번이나 우승시켰을 정도로 그의 활약을 대단했다. 그의 삶은 짧다. 그의 선수생활은 더욱 짧다. 하지만 그의 삶은 다른이들에게 도전을 던져준다. 우리는 그 도전의 메시지를 영화의 마지막 크레딧에서 찾을 수 있다.

"It's funny. Most people think my life has been all about football. I've even thought that myself. But Football is just a game. What matter is what you play for. Sometimes when the game is close and everything is on the line, that's when you forget the crowd and the noise. That's when it's just you against somebody else to see who is the better man. That's what I like about the game. Because at that moment you are friends and you are enemies and you are brothers."