Caffeinated Clint
Playing footballer, Ernie Davis
And to think just a few short years ago, Dennis Quaid was starring in the likes of “Wilder Napalm” – ah, nothing like a career rebirth.
Quaid, soon to be seen in the action thriller “Vantage Point”, will play another real life character (after Doc Holliday, after Jerry Lee Lewis, after Sam Houston, after, ahem, George W.Bush) in “The Express,” the true story of football great Ernie Davis, says The Hollywood Reporter.
Davis broke college football records and racial barriers in the early 1960s playing at Syracuse University, becoming the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy. The running back was drafted into the NFL, but his career was cut short when he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Quaid will play Davis’ coach, who eventually becomes his champion. The role of Davis has not been cast.
Charles Leavitt (“Blood Diamond”) wrote the latest draft of the script. Gary Fleder (“Kiss the Girls”) will direct.
