Strength in numbers: Legacy of No. 44 preserved by dedicated fans, memory of past champions

Every family has its stories—the ones passed down from generation to generation. For Brian Schantz, one classic family story involves his great-grandfather punching someone in the middle of a crowded football stadium.

It was New Year's Day, 1960. The Syracuse University football team was in the thick of the game against the University of Texas-Austin for the Cotton Bowl.

At a time of strong racial tensions in the country, the divide between SU fans and Texas fans, Northern fans and Southern fans, was tangible. All eyes transfixed on SU's running back, No. 44 Ernie Davis. But Schantz's great-grandfather, Frank Schantz, and his grandfather, John Schantz Sr., were having trouble paying attention.

"There was a Texas fan behind them, and he was just making racial slurs about Ernie Davis the entire game," said Schantz, senior economics and history major. "Finally, towards the end of the game when he was sure Texas was going to lose, he knocked my great-grandfather's hat off."

Fed up, Frank, who had boxed at SU, turned around and decked the Texas fan right in the face.

Starting with Frank, four generations of Schantz men have attended SU carrying on a tradition of SU football fandom.

The No. 44, no longer in play, now hangs nobly from the Carrier Dome rafters. Schantz acknowledges that although 44 will always be a historic number for SU and a passion for his family, he fears that its legacy is no longer what it used to be.

"People still remember the number now, but in the future, if they keep it retired, the whole legend behind it will start to fade."

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Athletes who have come and gone at SU have seen firsthand the power and immense pressure that comes with wearing No. 44.

No. 44 represents decades of fans' dedicated love for the game that spans generations. It reflects an era when SU football reigned supreme with titanic figures such as Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little at the game's forefront.

"Everything you do when you're wearing it is expected of you. … It's almost impossible for you to do anything in your own right," Little said in a 1970 article by The Daily Orange. "The number does have a special magic —for the fans."

For supporters like the Schantz family, which yearns to see SU football restored to its former glory, 44 is more than a number. It is a tradition that not only empowers a player but invigorates and inspires the fans.

Schantz recently watched the last game of the season against West Virginia from 1987, when Don McPherson lateralled the ball to No. 44 Mike Owens to go undefeated. He said that it's an experience he wishes fans could have now.

"There's just something really cool about seeing No. 44 play 30 or 40 years after Jim Brown and Ernie Davis," Schantz said.    

The three, regarded as the greatest players in SU football history, all bore No. 44 on their backs and chests. They brought the Orange tremendous victories and a lasting prestige, perpetuating the dedication of fans to a single number.

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The legacy of No. 44 began with SU's greatest athlete of all time: Jim Brown.

Fourteen other players before Brown wore No. 44. As the story goes, equipment manager Al Zak tossed him the then-insignificant jersey. From 1954 to 1956, as the first running back to wear 44, Brown made the number famous.

Brown later would travel to Elmira, N.Y., with head coach Ben Schwartzwalder to recruit the player who would break almost all of Brown's records: Ernie Davis. He led the Orangemen to a national championship in 1959 and became the first and only African-American to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961.

Davis recruited Floyd Little in 1962. Six months later, after battling leukemia, Davis died at age 23. It was an untimely loss that Schwartzwalder called a "tragedy."

Little was the last outstanding player to wear the number from 1964 to 1966. At the time of his graduation, Little was a three-time All-American. Schwartzwalder said Little's successful career solidified the legend of No. 44.

During the years between Little's career and the number's official retirement in 2005, few players had accomplished the mystifying success of Brown, Davis and Little.

"Over the years, there's been a couple of other guys that have worn it, but no one strikes me as outstanding," said John Schantz Jr., Brian's father and 1982 alumnus,as he listed off other players who wore the number. "They didn't deserve 44, though," he muttered under his breath with disdain.

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The number is inseparable from Syracuse culture: It's no coincidence that all of the University's telephone numbers begin with 44 and Syracuse's zip code, 13244, ends with the illustrious 44.