Gary Fleder will next direct the sports biopic "The Express," based on the true story of football great Ernie Davis reports Production Weekly.

The two-time All-American running back for Syracuse University led his team to the national championship in 1960. A year later, he became the first black man to win the Heisman Trophy -- the highest individual honor in college football.

Despite being first pick in the NFL draft, he never got a chance to play professional football as he was diagnosed with leukemia during the following summer and died nearly a year later.

Jeffrey Lieber & Charles Leavitt adapted the screenplay from Robert Gallagher's book, "Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express". Production is tentatively slated to begin in February.