get these nets
Veteran
Santa Barbara’s Great Cunningham Brothers
Four Athletes Who Made Sports History on the Playing Fields
June 17, 2021
CLOSE FAMILY: Surrounding their parents Samuel and Mabel (center) in the late 1960s are the Cunningham brothers (left to right): Anthony, Bruce, Randall, and Sam. Credit: Courtesy
From an early age, Samuel and Mabel Cunningham’s four sons — Sam Jr., Anthony, Bruce, and Randall — made their mark. Whether it was on the Eastside of Santa Barbara, at the beach, on the playgrounds of Franklin Elementary, under the lights at Peabody Stadium, or in the Los Angeles Coliseum, the stage was never too big for the Cunningham brothers to shine.
Through their athletic exploits, they smashed records and broke barriers. The stories of their high school, college, and, in the case of Sam and Randall, professional careers have evolved into legends. But at the heart of all the myths and folklore is a true story of African-American excellence, and it all began in Santa Barbara.
The Rise of Sam ‘Bam’ Cunningham
All four Cunningham brothers were born and raised in Santa Barbara. And as the oldest, Sam had no choice but to make his own name and blaze his own path.
“Santa Barbara was a great place to grow up because it was so diverse and allowed us to mix and blend with other cultures,” Sam said. “It helped me later in life on my journey. The people I met, the friends that I made, and the things that we did kind of gave me an overall head start.”
The Cunninghams moved around a lot during Sam’s childhood, from Gutierrez Street to Haley Street to Cacique Street near the railroad tracks.
Like many Santa Barbara children in the 1950s and 1960s, Sam spent a lot of time riding bikes and going to the beach. He was immersed in the Spanish history, the architecture, and the beautiful outdoor scenery that made Santa Barbara a special place.
“If I had to pick a better place to grow up, I couldn’t have,” Sam admitted.
His introduction to athletics came at Franklin Elementary, where the coach Bill Van Schaick exposed him to organized sports. The Van Schaicks were a family of educators. Bill’s brother Frank worked and coached at Wilson elementary school, which has been converted into the Westside Neighborhood Center, and the two schools formed a crosstown athletic rivalry.
RAISING THE BAR: Randall Cunningham cleared 6’9″ in the high jump for the Santa Barbara Dons. He now coaches his daughter Vashti, who jumped almost as high in making the 2016 U.S. Olympic team. | Credit: Courtesy
“We would play after-school sports. Whatever sport was in season — football, basketball, baseball, and volleyball,” Sam said. “I don’t think I ever played youth [tackle] football. I just played flag football,” he said. “For me, it was whatever school sports were there, that’s what we played.
“In the summer, we would go camping in the Sierras for a week or two. We got immersed in a lot of stuff that if I had grown up in the inner city, I wouldn’t have been exposed to.
“I never knew how great Santa Barbara was until I left. That was really crazy. I always thought it was a pain because of the small-town feel and everybody knew what you were doing and in your business,” he said. “When you get out and everybody says some place is beautiful, you find yourself looking around and saying, ‘This isn’t as beautiful as where I grew up.’”
Getting Serious
In those early years, sports were just a fun pastime for Sam and his classmates. The competitive aspect came later as he moved to Santa Barbara Junior High and Santa Barbara High School.
It wasn’t hard for Sam’s coaches to immediately recognize his athletic talent. He was undeniably gifted: Sports just came naturally, and the Santa Barbara community embraced him and nourished those natural gifts.
TROJAN HORSE: As a USC fullback, Sam Cunningham scored two touchdowns in his first game against Alabama, and three years later scored four touchdowns in the Rose Bowl. | Credit: Courtesy
In high school, Sam continued to develop under head football coach Sam Cathcart, a U.S. Army veteran who served during World War II and the Korean War, and the defensive coordinator Mike Moropoulos. At 6′3″ and 220 pounds, Sam excelled on both sides of the ball as a fullback on offense and a hybrid linebacker or “exaggerated rover,” as he described it, on defense.
Mike Moropoulos’s son Craig is the current head football coach at Santa Barbara City College and has a unique perspective on the four brothers’ careers at Santa Barbara High. As a young boy, Craig grew up admiring Sam and Anthony. Later he played football with Bruce, and when he graduated, Randall took over from him as quarterback. The word Craig used to describe the Cunninghams’ athletic imprint at the high school was “legendary.”
“When Sam was coming through Santa Barbara High, I was a 7- or 8-year-old kid. Sam was the idol. I would get to sit on the bench with him, and I was such a fan,” Craig Moropoulos remembered. “My dad and mom used to have them over for dinner, Sam and some of the other guys. My mom made Greek chicken, which was a lemon fried chicken, and Sam loved it. He was just a very high-character person, and my folks loved him.”
In Sam’s junior year of high school in 1967, the Dons reached the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) semifinals, which was played at the Los Angeles Coliseum. They suffered a devastating loss to Anaheim High, tarnishing a previously undefeated season, but it was a prelude of things to come for Sam, as he would go on to play football at USC following his senior year.
In track and field, Sam showed impressive speed, running the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds. Because the track at Peabody Stadium back then was oval without a long straightaway, the 100 was run on the grass field.
Sam combined that speed with tremendous strength, allowing him to win the 1969 State Championship in the shot put with a throw of 64′9″. His throwing coach Vern Gambetta, a teaching assistant from UC Santa Barbara at the time, had to learn about shot-put technique from a book, but he and Sam grew in knowledge and skill together over a three-year period.
“Track meets back then were huge events at Santa Barbara High School,” Moropoulos said. “They had one of the best track teams ever. Watching the 4×100 relay and Sam throwing the shot put was incredible.”
Sam’s accomplishments on the track, and those of his brothers later on, were so extraordinary that even 50 years later it is not surprising that an anonymous donor gave the school district $500,000 to name the new track at Peabody Stadium after all four Cunninghams.
Integrating Southern Football
On September 12, 1970, the USC football team became the first fully integrated team to play in the state of Alabama. The Trojans took the field against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Birmingham. For Sam, who was a sophomore, it was his first introduction to big-time college football. (Until 1972, freshmen were not permitted to play varsity football in Division 1.)
What happened on Legion Field that evening was the birth of an icon and a significant event in African-American history, as Sam rushed 12 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-21 USC victory. Integration was bad news for many of the Alabama faithful, but losing was worse. The lopsided USC victory shattered the final stronghold of segregation in college football and helped end the practice of all-white Alabama football teams.
DON DAYS: At Santa Barbara High, Sam Cunningham (34) excelled on both sides of the ball as a fullback on offense and a hybrid linebacker on defense. | Credit: Courtesy
The next season, two Black players, running back Wilbur Jackson and defensive end John Mitchell, donned Alabama uniforms. Alabama assistant coach Jerry Claiborne was famously quoted saying, “Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years.”
There was no indication before the game that Sam would even get to play. He was slated as a backup fullback behind starter Charlie Evans. But he entered the game on USC’s fourth offensive play and danced with destiny.
As a 20-year-old California kid, Sam did not fully recognize the importance of his performance at the time, but over the years, through talking with the Black residents of Birmingham and others, Sam began to appreciate its significance.
“I didn’t go into any game looking to change history, even though history has a tendency to be changed by things of that nature,” Sam said. “I always tried to play to the best of my ability, and that’s what I did that evening. I was put in the right spot and got touched by the hand of God.”
Sam went on to a productive career at USC, culminating in the 1973 Rose Bowl, where he put on a performance for the ages with four touchdowns in the second half to lead USC to a 42-17 victory over Ohio State. The victory secured USC the national championship, and Sam was named player of the game.
The New England Patriots drafted Sam with the 11th pick in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft. He played nine seasons for the Patriots and was a Pro Bowl selection in 1978.
During his years there, the violent protests against busing were taking place in the working-class white neighborhoods of Boston. Having grown up in a mixed and integrated society in Santa Barbara, the concept of a segregated community was foreign to him.
In Boston, however, Sam recalled how white Patriot fans told him, “If I was married and had kids, they wouldn’t mind their kids going to school with my kids, and I’m saying, well why is that? ‘Because you’re a star.’” But Sam said, “Well, that’s not how it’s supposed to go.”
Sam was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2010.
Four Athletes Who Made Sports History on the Playing Fields
June 17, 2021
CLOSE FAMILY: Surrounding their parents Samuel and Mabel (center) in the late 1960s are the Cunningham brothers (left to right): Anthony, Bruce, Randall, and Sam. Credit: Courtesy
From an early age, Samuel and Mabel Cunningham’s four sons — Sam Jr., Anthony, Bruce, and Randall — made their mark. Whether it was on the Eastside of Santa Barbara, at the beach, on the playgrounds of Franklin Elementary, under the lights at Peabody Stadium, or in the Los Angeles Coliseum, the stage was never too big for the Cunningham brothers to shine.
Through their athletic exploits, they smashed records and broke barriers. The stories of their high school, college, and, in the case of Sam and Randall, professional careers have evolved into legends. But at the heart of all the myths and folklore is a true story of African-American excellence, and it all began in Santa Barbara.
The Rise of Sam ‘Bam’ Cunningham
All four Cunningham brothers were born and raised in Santa Barbara. And as the oldest, Sam had no choice but to make his own name and blaze his own path.
“Santa Barbara was a great place to grow up because it was so diverse and allowed us to mix and blend with other cultures,” Sam said. “It helped me later in life on my journey. The people I met, the friends that I made, and the things that we did kind of gave me an overall head start.”
The Cunninghams moved around a lot during Sam’s childhood, from Gutierrez Street to Haley Street to Cacique Street near the railroad tracks.
Like many Santa Barbara children in the 1950s and 1960s, Sam spent a lot of time riding bikes and going to the beach. He was immersed in the Spanish history, the architecture, and the beautiful outdoor scenery that made Santa Barbara a special place.
“If I had to pick a better place to grow up, I couldn’t have,” Sam admitted.
His introduction to athletics came at Franklin Elementary, where the coach Bill Van Schaick exposed him to organized sports. The Van Schaicks were a family of educators. Bill’s brother Frank worked and coached at Wilson elementary school, which has been converted into the Westside Neighborhood Center, and the two schools formed a crosstown athletic rivalry.
RAISING THE BAR: Randall Cunningham cleared 6’9″ in the high jump for the Santa Barbara Dons. He now coaches his daughter Vashti, who jumped almost as high in making the 2016 U.S. Olympic team. | Credit: Courtesy
“We would play after-school sports. Whatever sport was in season — football, basketball, baseball, and volleyball,” Sam said. “I don’t think I ever played youth [tackle] football. I just played flag football,” he said. “For me, it was whatever school sports were there, that’s what we played.
“In the summer, we would go camping in the Sierras for a week or two. We got immersed in a lot of stuff that if I had grown up in the inner city, I wouldn’t have been exposed to.
“I never knew how great Santa Barbara was until I left. That was really crazy. I always thought it was a pain because of the small-town feel and everybody knew what you were doing and in your business,” he said. “When you get out and everybody says some place is beautiful, you find yourself looking around and saying, ‘This isn’t as beautiful as where I grew up.’”
Getting Serious
In those early years, sports were just a fun pastime for Sam and his classmates. The competitive aspect came later as he moved to Santa Barbara Junior High and Santa Barbara High School.
It wasn’t hard for Sam’s coaches to immediately recognize his athletic talent. He was undeniably gifted: Sports just came naturally, and the Santa Barbara community embraced him and nourished those natural gifts.
TROJAN HORSE: As a USC fullback, Sam Cunningham scored two touchdowns in his first game against Alabama, and three years later scored four touchdowns in the Rose Bowl. | Credit: Courtesy
In high school, Sam continued to develop under head football coach Sam Cathcart, a U.S. Army veteran who served during World War II and the Korean War, and the defensive coordinator Mike Moropoulos. At 6′3″ and 220 pounds, Sam excelled on both sides of the ball as a fullback on offense and a hybrid linebacker or “exaggerated rover,” as he described it, on defense.
Mike Moropoulos’s son Craig is the current head football coach at Santa Barbara City College and has a unique perspective on the four brothers’ careers at Santa Barbara High. As a young boy, Craig grew up admiring Sam and Anthony. Later he played football with Bruce, and when he graduated, Randall took over from him as quarterback. The word Craig used to describe the Cunninghams’ athletic imprint at the high school was “legendary.”
“When Sam was coming through Santa Barbara High, I was a 7- or 8-year-old kid. Sam was the idol. I would get to sit on the bench with him, and I was such a fan,” Craig Moropoulos remembered. “My dad and mom used to have them over for dinner, Sam and some of the other guys. My mom made Greek chicken, which was a lemon fried chicken, and Sam loved it. He was just a very high-character person, and my folks loved him.”
In Sam’s junior year of high school in 1967, the Dons reached the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) semifinals, which was played at the Los Angeles Coliseum. They suffered a devastating loss to Anaheim High, tarnishing a previously undefeated season, but it was a prelude of things to come for Sam, as he would go on to play football at USC following his senior year.
In track and field, Sam showed impressive speed, running the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds. Because the track at Peabody Stadium back then was oval without a long straightaway, the 100 was run on the grass field.
Sam combined that speed with tremendous strength, allowing him to win the 1969 State Championship in the shot put with a throw of 64′9″. His throwing coach Vern Gambetta, a teaching assistant from UC Santa Barbara at the time, had to learn about shot-put technique from a book, but he and Sam grew in knowledge and skill together over a three-year period.
“Track meets back then were huge events at Santa Barbara High School,” Moropoulos said. “They had one of the best track teams ever. Watching the 4×100 relay and Sam throwing the shot put was incredible.”
Sam’s accomplishments on the track, and those of his brothers later on, were so extraordinary that even 50 years later it is not surprising that an anonymous donor gave the school district $500,000 to name the new track at Peabody Stadium after all four Cunninghams.
Integrating Southern Football
On September 12, 1970, the USC football team became the first fully integrated team to play in the state of Alabama. The Trojans took the field against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Birmingham. For Sam, who was a sophomore, it was his first introduction to big-time college football. (Until 1972, freshmen were not permitted to play varsity football in Division 1.)
What happened on Legion Field that evening was the birth of an icon and a significant event in African-American history, as Sam rushed 12 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-21 USC victory. Integration was bad news for many of the Alabama faithful, but losing was worse. The lopsided USC victory shattered the final stronghold of segregation in college football and helped end the practice of all-white Alabama football teams.
DON DAYS: At Santa Barbara High, Sam Cunningham (34) excelled on both sides of the ball as a fullback on offense and a hybrid linebacker on defense. | Credit: Courtesy
The next season, two Black players, running back Wilbur Jackson and defensive end John Mitchell, donned Alabama uniforms. Alabama assistant coach Jerry Claiborne was famously quoted saying, “Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years.”
There was no indication before the game that Sam would even get to play. He was slated as a backup fullback behind starter Charlie Evans. But he entered the game on USC’s fourth offensive play and danced with destiny.
As a 20-year-old California kid, Sam did not fully recognize the importance of his performance at the time, but over the years, through talking with the Black residents of Birmingham and others, Sam began to appreciate its significance.
“I didn’t go into any game looking to change history, even though history has a tendency to be changed by things of that nature,” Sam said. “I always tried to play to the best of my ability, and that’s what I did that evening. I was put in the right spot and got touched by the hand of God.”
Sam went on to a productive career at USC, culminating in the 1973 Rose Bowl, where he put on a performance for the ages with four touchdowns in the second half to lead USC to a 42-17 victory over Ohio State. The victory secured USC the national championship, and Sam was named player of the game.
The New England Patriots drafted Sam with the 11th pick in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft. He played nine seasons for the Patriots and was a Pro Bowl selection in 1978.
During his years there, the violent protests against busing were taking place in the working-class white neighborhoods of Boston. Having grown up in a mixed and integrated society in Santa Barbara, the concept of a segregated community was foreign to him.
In Boston, however, Sam recalled how white Patriot fans told him, “If I was married and had kids, they wouldn’t mind their kids going to school with my kids, and I’m saying, well why is that? ‘Because you’re a star.’” But Sam said, “Well, that’s not how it’s supposed to go.”
Sam was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2010.