Sam Cunningham passes away at 71

[biggunsbob]

Sam Cunningham on 1970 Alabama?s defense.

?Our spring practice was tougher then that game?

https://sports.yahoo.com/former-usc...s-rb-sam-cunningham-dies-at-71-203532480.html



https://youtu.be/SsvekPkjM54

 

[tinselwolverine]

Sam ?Bam? Cunningham.

 

[byco42]

I remember watching that game. But I never considered its significance short of being surprised that USC won so easily. But my 13-year-old brain was only concerned in Xs and Os.

EDIT: Some cursory research suggested that Alabama was an average 6-5 team the previous season and repeated that record in 1970. (6-5-1)

 

[Michchamp]

Ftfa:

That USC team traveled to play Alabama on Sep. 12. It was the first major college football game in Alabama that included a fully integrated team. USC won the game 42-21 over Bear Bryant's all-white Alabama team and all six of the Trojans? touchdowns were scored by Black players. That legendary game is considered one of the biggest turning points in the integration of major college football in the modern era.

Cunningham rushed for 135 yards and scored two TDs in that game. USC finished the season No. 15 in the AP Top 25. Jerry Claiborne, a former Bryant assistant who also was a head coach at three different schools, famously said that Cunningham "did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years."​

I take that as a sad indictment of Americans in general and Southerners in particular.

But sometimes I'm too negative... on the bright side, in order to be afforded basic civil rights in this country, you just have to be white, wealthy, or the top 0.02% of people in terms of athletic ability...

 

[Spartanmack]

Ftfa:

That USC team traveled to play Alabama on Sep. 12. It was the first major college football game in Alabama that included a fully integrated team. USC won the game 42-21 over Bear Bryant's all-white Alabama team and all six of the Trojans? touchdowns were scored by Black players. That legendary game is considered one of the biggest turning points in the integration of major college football in the modern era.

Cunningham rushed for 135 yards and scored two TDs in that game. USC finished the season No. 15 in the AP Top 25. Jerry Claiborne, a former Bryant assistant who also was a head coach at three different schools, famously said that Cunningham "did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years."​

I take that as a sad indictment of Americans in general and Southerners in particular.

But sometimes I'm too negative... on the bright side, in order to be afforded basic civil rights in this country, you just have to be white, wealthy, or the top 0.02% of people in terms of athletic ability...

right, because America, particularly the south is exactly the same as it was 50 years ago.

 

[byco42]

Ftfa:

That USC team traveled to play Alabama on Sep. 12. It was the first major college football game in Alabama that included a fully integrated team. USC won the game 42-21 over Bear Bryant's all-white Alabama team and all six of the Trojans? touchdowns were scored by Black players. That legendary game is considered one of the biggest turning points in the integration of major college football in the modern era.

Cunningham rushed for 135 yards and scored two TDs in that game. USC finished the season No. 15 in the AP Top 25. Jerry Claiborne, a former Bryant assistant who also was a head coach at three different schools, famously said that Cunningham "did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years."​

I take that as a sad indictment of Americans in general and Southerners in particular.

But sometimes I'm too negative... on the bright side, in order to be afforded basic civil rights in this country, you just have to be white, wealthy, or the top 0.02% of people in terms of athletic ability...

Clearly, by accident or not, Alabama changed its recruiting policy, so there's that. McKay and Bryant were good friends. Whether or not Bryant was trying to make a point by scheduling USC at home is unknown. The quote you site is considered apocryphal, as it has not been officially attributed to any one. There's also evidence that integration was incrementally in progress, in spite of any fan base, booster, or alumni opposition. Wilbur Jackson, Alabama's initial scholarship player was in the stands that night. This game was the tectonic plate that slipped.

 

[Michchamp]

Clearly, by accident or not, Alabama changed its recruiting policy, so there's that. McKay and Bryant were good friends. Whether or not Bryant was trying to make a point by scheduling USC at home is unknown. The quote you site is considered apocryphal, as it has not been officially attributed to any one. There's also evidence that integration was incrementally in progress, in spite of any fan base, booster, or alumni opposition. Wilbur Jackson, Alabama's initial scholarship player was in the stands that night. This game was the tectonic plate that slipped.

The quote was in the article Bob linked to.

I have heard it before, but I don't remember the source or the reference; whether apocryphal or not, it's a pretty underhanded thing to say, even if it is true. I don't think so, though. FWIW, The FBI never attempted to blackmail McKay and Bryant (or urge them to kill themselves), so their football game couldn't have been that threatening to the establishment...

 

[byco42]

The quote was in the article Bob linked to.

I have heard it before, but I don't remember the source or the reference; whether apocryphal or not, it's a pretty underhanded thing to say, even if it is true. I don't think so, though. FWIW, The FBI never attempted to blackmail McKay and Bryant (or urge them to kill themselves), so their football game couldn't have been that threatening to the establishment...

Actually, the FBI was monitoring Clemon ... *shocked face*

 

[Mitchrapp]

Rest in peace.