Why I Give: Cementing A Legacy - Remembering Ernest Torain Sr.

The Torain family is cementing a legacy in the Maryland football program and honoring the late great Ernest Torain Sr., who peacefully passed away on July 31, 2025, at the age of 80.

Ernest Sr. grew up in Baltimore and was a nationally-renowned high school football player at Baltimore Poly before becoming a two-time letterman with Maryland football and a star running back on the freshman squad in 1964 and on the varsity roster in 1965 and 1966. He led the Terps in rushing yards in 1965 and was a bright spot on a rebuilding roster.

The family is honoring Ernest and his wife by establishing the Ernest and Elaine Torain Endowed Scholarship For Football to support a football student-athlete.

“When he passed away, I said a few words at his funeral and I talked about legacy,” Ernest Torain Jr. said. “It was a big deal for him to stay in the state and go to Maryland. I think about Maryland, and my dad's relationship to Maryland now in the sense of the word legacy. If I could have, somewhere within the universe of Maryland football, an Ernest Torain Scholarship, my dad would be humbly proud, shyly proud, but my mom would be tickled.”

Ernie Jr. recalls hearing his father talk to him about his recruiting story. A long touchdown run against Miami High in the Orange Bowl made him a top-end recruit. He had offers from Maryland, Penn State and USC but chose to make his mark in College Park for the Terps.

 “When I listened to him talk about it, it occurred to me that he wasn't telling me a football story, he was telling me an origin story,” Ernie Jr. said. “If that touchdown run was his origin story, it's my origin story, too.”

The morning after his father’s passing, Ernie Jr. sent a heartfelt message to his family:

“I was talking to the hospice chaplain this morning and I shared my theory that fathers take the best of themselves to make gifts for their sons. My dad was no different. He taught  me to put family first and to be actively involved in my kids' lives. Like him, I coached my boys in everything…for many years, sharing life lessons along the way.”

“He taught me how to play football. How to ‘run that ball.’ But if I think about it, he used football to teach me how to be tough, to compete, to connect with people and to be a good teammate. He did not give me his breakaway speed (my little brother got that). Maybe that was his way of teaching me how to get the job done with whatever tools I had. A valuable lesson, for sure, but the breakaway speed would have been nice.”

The Torain family was invited to the football game against Washington on Nov. 4, and was honored in the endzone during a timeout. The game gave the family the recognition that Ernest Sr. deserves and a chance to bond over something that was a key component of his life. 

“It was wonderful,” Ernie Jr. said. “I was at a game with him a couple years before he passed away, and there was a weather delay and everybody went up to the concourse. We stood there for like an hour before the game restarted. I was like, ‘You know, it's great that we're here together, but I want to go home. I've had enough for today.’ But my brother later told me that he never leaves the game early, and it was only because of whatever influence I had that he was willing to leave early that day. Normally, he was the type of guy that was always involved until the final whistle.”

During his youth, his family moved from Baltimore to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Ernie Jr. recalls his father’s determination to watch his sons play. When Ernie Jr. was playing at Dartmouth, his brother was still competing at the high school level. Ernest Sr. would consistently watch the high school game on Friday night and drive up to New England for Ernie Jr.'s game on Saturday. 

“We had a classic sports family,” Ernie Jr. said. “My dad coached all of us in football, baseball, and basketball. When he wasn't coaching anymore when we were older, he was at all the practices. He was at all the games.”

Ernest Sr. kept Maryland Athletics involved in his family’s lives even after his playing time as a Terrapin. He loved the area, the university, the team, and the competition. 

“There were other places he could have gone,” Ernie Jr. said. “So it was a big deal for him when he went to Maryland. After that, he was constantly connected to the program. When my brother and I were young, we went to the camps a bunch. The Terps were always front and center for my dad. I remember basketball camps with Coach Driesell and football camps with Coach Claiborne. In high school, I hoped to become a Terp myself."

Above all else, Ernest Sr. loved his family. He exemplified what it means to be a Terp in his personal life. His loving marriage with his wife, Elaine, prospered for nearly 59 years until she passed away in 2024. 

Through the new Ernest and Elaine Torain Endowed Scholarship For Football that will be established before the end of this year, Ernest Sr.’s legacy in Maryland sports will live on in a program he cherished.