USC legend Sam Cunningham has died.
The Trojans announced that Cunningham passed away at the age of 71 Tuesday. A cause of death wasn’t released by the program. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
#FightOnForever, Sam “Bam” Cunningham.
The All-American fullback, Rose Bowl MVP and College Football Hall of Famer, whose performance in USC’s 1970 win at Alabama has often been credited with helping integrate Southern football, died on Tuesday in Inglewood. He was 71.
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) September 7, 2021
Cunningham’s dominant performance against Alabama in 1970 is often credited for the Crimson Tide integrating their football team.
USC went to Tuscaloosa with multiple black players and beat the living hell out of Alabama. His 135 yards and two touchdowns led to Alabama assistant Jerry Claiborne saying, “Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years,” according to NJ.com.
RIP to Trojan legend Sam Cunningham
If you haven’t read up on the famous 1970 USC vs Bama game, you should
Cunningham’s 135 yard, 2 TD performance vs an all white Alabama team helped lead to their eventual integration
Fight On Forever Sam✌️
— Barstool SC (@BarstoolSC) September 7, 2021
There are very few people in America who will live the kind of full life that Cunningham did during his time on this planet.
I really wish more people my age and younger knew his story. He was an unstoppable force for the Trojans and his presence in Tuscaloosa that fateful day in 1970 led to changes felt throughout the country.
We look back on USC’s historic win over Alabama 50 years ago, a game that for many represented the last gasp of segregation in major college football.
(📍 @goodyear) pic.twitter.com/5h2D4jn3j3
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 12, 2020
People quickly realized that in order to compete, they would need to recruit guys like Sam Cunningham.
Now, at the age of 71, he’s passed to the other side. He was a legend and will be sorely missed.