Sipping a pumpkin spice latte Saturday night at Starbucks, my gut told me the man crossing the street was the one headed for my table. A black Orangemen hat, a blue SU golf jacket, blue SU sweatpants and blue shoes with quite distracting bright orange laces.

Mr. Syracuse – he goes by the rather pedestrian Dan Johnson – had agreed to divulge to me a splendid plan of his that would forever honor an SU sports icon on campus.

‘I’ve been dying to tell somebody,’ he said.

Ever appreciative of SU’s athletic history since growing up in Syracuse, Johnson yearns for an Ernie Davis statue on the SU campus. A year since he proposed the idea, Johnson’s still waiting for it to happen.

The second legend of 44, Davis carried SU to its only football national title in 1959 and two years later was named the first black Heisman Trophy winner. Drafted No. 1 overall in 1962 by the Washington Redskins, he was traded to the Cleveland Browns and was supposed to join original legend of 44, Jim Brown, in the greatest backfield of all-time.

But Davis, revered not only for his playing ability but his generous personality, was diagnosed with leukemia and never played in the NFL. He died at age 23 in 1963.

Davis should stand forever on the SU campus. And the best part is it would cost the university nothing. Johnson is confident he can find donors to raise about $100,000 required for the statue.

Johnson has done much of the legwork himself. He received bids from two renowned sculptors – Bruno Lucchesi of Davis’ hometown Elmira and Patrick Morelli. Susan Buhmann is another interested sculptor. Lucchesi created the statue of Davis that stands in Elmira for $90,000 and Morelli created the Jim Brown bust in the Iocolano-Petty Football Wing of Manley Field House.

Since the statue would be placed on SU grounds, Johnson needs the university’s approval. He received an enthusiastic response from Chancellor Nancy Cantor over the phone and SU Director of Athletics Daryl Gross in person.

Because the statue would be a gift, it’s up to the university whether or not to accept. Director of Athletic Communications Sue Edson said the process is now in the hands of a university statue committee.

But the SU statue committee is awfully hard to locate.

When reached, the chancellor’s office said it had not heard of a statue committee and referred me back to SU Athletics.

The university would determine where the statue would be placed – Johnson suggested either the Quad or near the Carrier Dome. The university would probably want to know how the funds will be raised. But Johnson is confident he can fulfill that end of the bargain. He is driven to see the statue become a reality.

After years of thought, Johnson took the initiative in the summer of 2004 and contacted the university. Johnson said former Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel dismissed the idea because Crouthamel didn’t want to single out Davis. What about Jim Brown? Floyd Little? Dave Bing? Jim Boeheim? The list of worthy SU icons goes on and on.

‘None of them won a Heisman and all of them are lucky to be alive,’ was Johnson’s response.

Johnson renewed his push when Gross was hired as AD in December. Even before Gross announced plans to retire 44, Johnson recognized Gross’ admiration for history and thought the new AD would be more open to a statue of Davis.

Before Johnson tried to contact Gross, Johnson ran into him before SU played St. John’s in a men’s basketball game Feb. 23 at the Carrier Dome. Johnson didn’t get far in his impromptu pitch before Gross interrupted.

‘Why isn’t there one already here?’ Gross asked.

Gross invited Johnson to make an appointment with him and the two chatted for an hour one day the following week. But Gross had too much on his plate and passed the project to Mark Jackson, his primary assistant, who then passed it to Barbara Henderson, a senior associate athletic director over the summer. This is where the story hits a snag. The statue committee is the only entity that knows the current progress of the situation.

Gross was unavailable for comment this weekend. He is en route to Syracuse after a trip to Los Angeles.

There is no doubt Gross appreciates SU’s history and he clearly is enamored with Davis.

‘Ernie Davis was such a legend here and such a great guy and a Heisman Trophy winner,’ Gross said in August. ‘People don’t realize that not many schools have won a Heisman Trophy and Syracuse is one of them.’

Now, conversations between Johnson and Syracuse have stalled. He hasn’t heard an update on his proposal.

Former men’s lacrosse coach Roy Simmons Jr. is a sculptor himself and is a likely candidate for the statue committee. He knew all the specifics about the proposed statue for months from Johnson, but Simmons Jr. said Monday he hadn’t heard of such a statue committee.

Once the university formally accepts the statue and the money is in place, it will take roughly six months to complete, Johnson said.

Right now, though, Johnson deserves an update.

He wears his passion on his sleeve – and his shoes and hat and jacket and pants – to make the Ernie Davis statue a reality.

‘This is out of pure love for Ernie and the university,’ Johnson said. ‘Ernie needs to come home.’

Ethan Ramsey is an asst. sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear every Tuesday. E-mail him at egramsey@gmail.com

Published on September 25, 2005 at 12:00 pm