Sam Cunningham

Samuel Lewis "Sam" Cunningham, Jr (born August 15, 1950) is a retired American football fullback. The media referred to him as Sam "Bam" Cunningham.

College career

Cunningham was a letterman for University of Southern California's football team from 1970 through 1972 where he played fullback. He was named an All-American in 1972. He was a member of USC’s 1972 national championship team. In the 1973 Rose Bowl, he scored four touchdowns, which still stands as a modern-day Rose Bowl record. He was named Rose Bowl Player of the Game. He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1992 and into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

In 1970 he was part of USC's "all-black" backfield (the first one of its kind in Division I (NCAA) history), that included quarterback Jimmy Jones and running back Clarence Davis. He had a notable debut performance (135 yards, 2 touchdowns) against an all-white University of Alabama football team, as USC beat Alabama 42-21 in Birmingham on September 12, 1970. His performance in the game was reportedly a factor in convincing the University of Alabama and its fans to let Coach Bear Bryant integrate Southern football. Jerry Claiborne, a former Bryant assistant, said, "Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years."