Rob Brown (Coach Carter, Stop-Loss) makes the move from wide receiver to running back in The Express, the inspirational story of Syracuse University stand-out Ernie Davis. Davis followed in the footsteps of the legendary Jim Brown, attending Syracuse at Brown's urging, and ultimately became the first African-American to win college football's highest accolade: the Heisman Trophy. Brown wasn't familiar with Davis prior to taking on the lead role in The Express, but he quickly became absorbed in Davis' story.

Moving from Catching the Ball to Running With It: The transition from wide receiver to running back wasn't that difficult. As Brown explains it, football is football. "At the end of the day if anything I was like a kid in a candy store because playing receiver, you know, you're in a parameter, you're on the outside, you’re on an island so to speak. You run a route. You've got to run your route. Guys got to protect it, got to pick up blitzes. The quarterback has to make a great throw. You catch the ball and that's it. You play running back, you've got the ball in your hands for most of the time. It was a lot of fun. I kind of felt like why didn't I play running back?"

On the Real Ernie Davis: It wasn't until after filming was completed that Brown spoke to any member of Ernie Davis' family. "The first time I met them was in Atlanta at a screening. I didn't know they were going to be there and Ernie's nephew stood up and basically - mind you my heart was pounding - he was satisfied with the film.

So in a lot of ways we were just trying to just capture Ernie's spirit and Ernie's essence, and not worry about an impersonation because you know there isn't that much of a blueprint out there because he's not in the media and he passed away so early. So we just wanted to capture his spirit and still maintain his legacy without disrespecting his family."

On Finding Inspiration in Ernie Davis' Story: Davis' accomplishments on the field aren't the only reason people remember him fondly and with such respect. "There's people my age in Syracuse even last weekend when we were up there, there are people my age - I'm 24 - with anecdotes about Ernie that were passed down from their parents and so forth," said Brown. "It sticks with them until this day and it's like, 'Well, how could this guy who passed away at such a young age make such a huge impact on people?' You know, I think the most inspiring thing is the fact that people look at him as such as example. They ask themselves, 'What would Ernie do?' You know those bracelets - What Would Jesus Do bracelets? Now blasphemy aside, that's the kind of impact he had on people. People would think about things and say, 'Well, what would Ernie do in this situation?' I find myself doing that even up until this point. I think I'm more mature as a function of getting to know Ernie a little bit."

The Mentor Relationship Between Coach and Player: Ernie Davis developed a father-son type of relationship with his coach at Syracuse, Ben Schwartzwalder. Dennis Quaid takes on the role of Coach Schwartzwalder in the movie, and Brown says their relationship is similar. "You know, he's a more tenured guy so I just try to soak up as much knowledge as possible and whenever I had a question I would just ask him and he was very responsive. In a lot of ways it's a father-son relationship because just where he is in his career and where I'm at now," explained Brown.

Putting Things in Perspective: Brown turned 23 while they were filming The Express and the real Ernie Davis passed away at the age of 23. "That definitely affected how I approached things and I definitely had that life is precious approach, and I needed to be dedicated and fully committed to the role, you know, keeping in mind that you know what, I could not be here right now. And that goes along with the maturity I was talking about that I gained as a result of getting to know Ernie a little bit."

Not Just a Football Story: While The Express is about a football player and there are plenty of action scenes in the film, the movie's more than just a sports piece. Asked what he hopes audiences take away from the film, Brown replied, "What I want them to get is just general knowledge of Ernie. I just want to generate that interest of Ernie because everyone knows about Jackie Robinson. Nobody knows about Ernie. I didn't know about him and I played college football. In a lot of ways, he's responsible for whatever success I have, you know, as a college athlete. And Emerson is not the most diverse place either, so I felt kind of embarrassed that I didn't know about him. I just want people to know about Ernie's story. It's kind of like a lost history lesson."