September 12, 1970: The Sam Cunningham Game

September 12, 1970: The University of Southern California, a.k.a. USC, takes the field at Legion Field in Birmingham, the secondary home field of the University of Alabama. They do so with the 1st all-black backfield in college football history, outside of historically black schools: Quarterback Jimmy Jones and running backs Clarence Davis and Sam Cunningham. 'Bama had been forced to racially integrate by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, but still hadn't fielded a single black football player. Of the schools then in the Southeastern Conference, Alabama's arch-rival Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt had; Georgia, Louisiana State (a.k.a. LSU) and Mississippi (a.k.a. Ole Miss) also had not. To be fair, Paul "Bear" Bryant had tried hard to recruit Frank Dowsing to be Alabama's 1st black player in 1969, but, a Mississippi native, he chose Mississippi State instead, becoming their 1st. So the Crimson Tide put an all-white team out against the USC Trojans. Sam Cunningham ran for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns. USC beat 'Bama, 42-21. The Bear knew he couldn't send an all-white team out anymore. Jerry Claiborne, an assistant to Bryant at Texas A&M and Alabama, was head coach at Virginia Tech at the time, and later at Maryland and Kentucky. He said, "Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King Jr. did in 20 years." Ironically, in the next off-season, Bryant played golf with USC coach John McKay, who mentioned he had a commitment from a junior college transfer who was an Alabama native, defensive end John Mitchell. Bryant got him to switch, and he became 'Bama's 1st black varsity player. He even became one of Bear's assistant coaches, and has been on the Pittsburgh Steelers' staff since 1994.

John Mitchell

"Sam Bam" Cunningham helped USC win the National Championship in 1972. He spent the next 10 seasons with the New England Patriots, rushing for 5,453 yards and making the 1978 Pro Bowl. Despite all their success in the 21st Century, he is still their all-time leading rusher. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and the Patriots elected him to their team Hall of Fame.

But if not for that game in Birmingham in 1970, he would now be known as the older brother of the great Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham, who played his college ball at Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV). Sam died on September 7, 2021, at age 71. The other members of that USC backfield? Jones played in the Canadian Football League, and helped the Montreal Alouettes win their championship, the Grey Cup, in 1974. Although less regarded in college than Cunningham, Davis had a better pro career, helping the Oakland Raiders win Super Bowl XI in 1977.

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September 12, 1970 was a Saturday. The University of Texas, the defending National Champions, opened the season at Number 1 in the polls, but didn't play their 1st game until the following Saturday. They almost won the title again, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish also didn't open until September 19. The same was true in New Jersey for Rutgers. Princeton opened a week after that.

A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played, and then some:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 7-3 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Ron Hansen hit a home run, and Horace Clarke got 3 hits. But it wasn't enough, as Mel Stottlemyre got shelled, allowing 5 runs and leaving with just 1 out in the 2nd inning.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 5-3 at Shea Stadium. So the other New York team, at this time the defending World Champions, lost to the team that ended up replacing the Senators as the Washington Nationals.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-5 at Atlanta Stadium (renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1974). For the Reds: Lee May had 3 hits including a home run and a triple, Johnny Bench went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and Pete Rose went 0-for-5. For the Braves: Tony Gonzalez hit a home run, and Hank Aaron went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Sox won the opener 6-2, and the nightcap 8-2.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the 1st game 7-3, and the Baltimore Orioles won the 2nd game 13-3.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. This was a wild one, that went to the 10th inning. The Bucs scored 3 in the top half, including a home run by Al Oliver. The Cards scored 2 in the bottom half, and had men on 1st and 2nd with 2 out, and Dick Allen at the plate. Pirate manager Danny Murtaugh made Bruce Dal Canton his 3rd pitcher of the inning, and he got Allen to ground to short.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-5 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-7 at the Astrodome in Houston. Willie Mays went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, but it wasn't enough.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1 at San Diego Stadium.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-2 at Anaheim Stadium.

* And a doubleheader was split at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics won the 1st game 4-3. Don Mincher hit 2 home runs. Reggie Jackson pinch-hit in the 8th inning, and struck out. The Milwaukee Brewers won the 2nd game 2-1. Reggie pinch-hit in the 8th again, and this time, he flied out.

Also, Arsenal beat Burnley, 2-1 at Turf Moor in Burnley, Lancashire.