Rone had approached Bryant first. The Bear warned him of the difficulties involved with making the squad, but told the guard from the State capital of Montgomery that he was welcome to try out, provided he passed the physical and was academically eligible. He said, “I admire your courage, young man.”
Rone was the 1st black man to wear an Alabama football uniform. The other 4 were not permitted, as they had not previously declared their desire, and thus had not yet been academically cleared, but they would be. Bryant told his players, "Treat 'em like everybody else."
On May 5, approximately 15,000 people showed up at Denny Stadium (renamed Bryant-Denny Stadium in 1975) to watch the annual A-Day intrasquad game. Rone, Tucker and Pernell were on the roster. Rone and Tucker played in the game.
But Rone dropped out, for reasons he has never discussed, and was subsequently drafted by the U.S. Army. Pernell walked on again in 1968, and played in the A-Day game. But he was dropped from the team due to a legal technicality.
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 game was televised nationally on ABC, so everyone who wanted to see a college football game that day, but wasn't actually going to a game, saw it. All-white 'Bama football had been exposed: No longer could such a team be counted on to resist the integrated North (or, in this case, the integrated West).The Bear knew he couldn't send an all-white team out anymore.
John Mitchell
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." He wasn't just being a wise guy or a bigot: The man known as "Sam Bam" had integrated the minds of 'Bama football fans, although changing their hearts may have taken a little longer.
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 convinced Mitchell 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.
Bryant called his good friend, Darrell Royal, the head coach at the University of Texas, who had won the National Championship in 1963, and, running the wishbone offense, had done so again in 1969, and nearly again in 1970. He asked Royal to teach him the wishbone. Bryant tried everything he could to keep his teaching of it to his players a secret, right down to walking into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, ranked Number 16 in the nation, for the rematch with then-Number 5 USC on September 10, 1971, with his newly-integrated team, and practicing in front of everyone before the game with the same old formation. Then, in his 1st offensive series, he sprung the 'bone on the Trojans. It worked: 'Bama won, 17-10.
Cunningham helped USC win the National Championship in 1972, on a team that also included running back Anthony Davis (no relation to Clarence), and future stars such as Los Angeles Rams quarterback Pat Haden and Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Lynn Swann. He spent the next 10 seasons with the New England Patriots, rushing for 5,453 yards and making the 1978 Pro Bowl. 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. Despite all their success in the 21st Century, he is still the Patriots' all-time leading rusher.
The other members of that USC backfield? Jimmy 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, Clarence Davis had a better pro career, helping the Oakland Raiders win Super Bowl XI in 1977.
In 1974, Bryant named 2 black players as co-captains: Sylvester Croom and Richard T. Davis. Croom was on the Alabama coaching staff from 1976 to 1986. In 2004, after 17 years of serving as an NFL assistant coach, including a trip to the Super Bowl with the San Diego Chargers, Mississippi State named him the 1st black head coach in the SEC. In 2007, he finished 8-5, led the Bulldogs to win the Liberty Bowl, and was named SEC Coach of the Year. In 2008, he finished 4-8, and was fired. He returned to the NFL.
Melvin Leverett became a successful real estate investor, and lived until 2010. Rone returned to the University, got his degree, and became a plant supervisor. Art Dunning served in the U.S. Air Force, earned a Ph.D., went into academic administration, and served as president of the historically black Albany State University in Georgia. Andrew Pernell and his wife founded a child care center. And Jerome Tucker went to law school, and became an Assistant District Attorney, and was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives and Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party. As of September 12, 2022, Rone, Dunning, Pernell and Tucker are still alive. (UPDATE: Tucker died in 2023.)
*
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.
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