Sam "Bam" Cunningham

[Bill B.]

Sam is being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this weekend. He was one of my favorite players when he was with the Patriots and this is a well deserved honor. When he was interviewed on ESPN earlier today, he was wearing a polo shirt with the Patriot logo on it. Glad to see he still feels a connection to the team. Congrats, Sam.

 

[Ring 6]

Sam is being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this weekend. He was one of my favorite players when he was with the Patriots and this is a well deserved honor. When he was interviewed on ESPN earlier today, he was wearing a polo shirt with the Patriot logo on it. Glad to see he still feels a connection to the team. Congrats, Sam.

Sam Bam was my favorite backfield mate in my Patriot days.

 

[Ghost of Ben Dreith]

Great for Sam....solid Patriot and an outstanding college player. Very happy at this.....I don't recall any negatives about him at all.

That he still feels a connection to the Pats is outstanding!

 

[DarrylS]

Sam Bam was the man.. never knew that he was the older brother of Randall.

 

[TheSolderKing]

A true Fullback he deserves the college honor

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Great for Sam....solid Patriot and an outstanding college player. Very happy at this.....I don't recall any negatives about him at all.

There was an HBO special that mentioned how Sam Bam helped integrate the SEC. At the time, Alabama was 'all white' and while Bear Bryant supposedly wanted to start integrating the team, he had much political opposition. USC, like Syracuse and a few other schools were progressive and when USC destroyed Alabama in an early season ggame with Cunningham leading the way, it gave Bryant the opportunity to bring his school in line with the rest of the nation.


"Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years."~Bryant assistant, Jerry Claiborne


The Trojan Empire: The Bear, The Bam, and Southern Integration

 

[SoCal Bong]

Met him last season when he came down to watch the final game with the Orange County Patriots Fans at the Auld Dubliner and he could not have been a nicer guy.

I just texted him my congratulations.

 

[patfanken]

I bet there is one play the Sam wishes he had back when he was a Pat and it came in the 2nd worse loss in Pats history, the Oakland playoff game A game that had a NUMBER of horrible ref calls beyond the infamous roughing the passer call.

Well anyway, just before that final Oakland drive the Pats had a chance to run the clock out. Sam ran a sweep, IIRC and got round 8 yards coming just short of the first down. On that play Sam went out of bounds when he could have taken on the contact and made the first down. The next play failed to get the first down and the Pats had to punt. Leading to the last drive and Ben Dryth.

I don't remember anyone complaining about about it afterwards, but it always bothered me. Not that I blamed him. He probably assumed they'd pick up the first on the next play BTW - I view Sam as a great Pat and a deserving college HOFer. The guy from Philly is right about Sam's contribution to the SEC as a result of that game.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

I bet there is one play the Sam wishes he had back when he was a Pat and it came in the 2nd worse loss in Pats history, the Oakland playoff game A game that had a NUMBER of horrible ref calls beyond the infamous roughing the passer call.

Well anyway, just before that final Oakland drive the Pats had a chance to run the clock out. Sam ran a sweep, IIRC and got round 8 yards coming just short of the first down. On that play Sam went out of bounds when he could have taken on the contact and made the first down. The next play failed to get the first down and the Pats had to punt. Leading to the last drive and Ben Dryth.

I don't remember anyone complaining about about it afterwards, but it always bothered me. Not that I blamed him. He probably assumed they'd pick up the first on the next play BTW - I view Sam as a great Pat and a deserving college HOFer. The guy from Philly is right about Sam's contribution to the SEC as a result of that game.

To me this is still the worst loss in Patriots history. On that play my many accounts Sam got the first down but it was a bad spot of the ball. On the next play Russ Frances was interfered badly, everyone saw it but was not called. If there was a fix in an NFL football game that was the game.

 

[Fencer]

Sam was an awesome college player -- utterly automatic on short-and-goal.

This bothers me greatly, as I grew up rooting for and eventually attended UCLA.

 

[patsfaninpa]

To me this is still the worst loss in Patriots history. On that play my many accounts Sam got the first down but it was a bad spot of the ball. On the next play Russ Frances was interfered badly, everyone saw it but was not called. If there was a fix in an NFL football game that was the game.

Francis wasn't intefered. Grogan hit him in the chest with the ball. Villapiano grabbed both arms and prevented him from even getting a finger on the ball. Memory not what it used to be. I thought it caused us to try a long FG about 50yds and missed instead of punting.

Back to topic. Sam Bam, I remember his Rose Bowl with 4 td's. He was the first player I've seen do the dive over the pile like everyone does now. Probably wasn't the first, but the first I can remember. Congrats. His 72 USC team was probably the best in college football history. Sick talent on both sides of the ball. And, a good passing attack at a time when not every team threw the ball well.

 

[Bill B.]

I bet there is one play the Sam wishes he had back when he was a Pat and it came in the 2nd worse loss in Pats history, the Oakland playoff game A game that had a NUMBER of horrible ref calls beyond the infamous roughing the passer call.

Well anyway, just before that final Oakland drive the Pats had a chance to run the clock out. Sam ran a sweep, IIRC and got round 8 yards coming just short of the first down. On that play Sam went out of bounds when he could have taken on the contact and made the first down. The next play failed to get the first down and the Pats had to punt. Leading to the last drive and Ben Dryth.

I don't remember anyone complaining about about it afterwards, but it always bothered me. Not that I blamed him. He probably assumed they'd pick up the first on the next play BTW - I view Sam as a great Pat and a deserving college HOFer. The guy from Philly is right about Sam's contribution to the SEC as a result of that game.

If I remember correctly, Sam ran out of bounds at the first down marker. Not the one with the chains, but a marker that they put down on the opposite side of the field to show where the first down is. After he ran out of bounds, it came out that the marker was placed a yard short. It was a conspiracy, I tell ya.

 

[Bill B.]

Francis wasn't intefered. Grogan hit him in the chest with the ball. Villapiano grabbed both arms and prevented him from even getting a finger on the ball. Memory not what it used to be. I thought it caused us to try a long FG about 50yds and missed instead of punting.

Back to topic. Sam Bam, I remember his Rose Bowl with 4 td's. He was the first player I've seen do the dive over the pile like everyone does now. Probably wasn't the first, but the first I can remember. Congrats. His 72 USC team was probably the best in college football history. Sick talent on both sides of the ball. And, a good passing attack at a time when not every team threw the ball well.

Sorry to disagee, but Francis most definitely was interfered with. Villapiano even said that he knew he couldn't get to the ball, so he just tackled Francis to keep him from catching it. Francis even tells a story about how, after their careers were over, he took Villapiano up in an airplane and then flew it upside down until Villapiano admitted that he interfered with him.

 

[Ring 6]

Francis wasn't intefered. Grogan hit him in the chest with the ball. Villapiano grabbed both arms and prevented him from even getting a finger on the ball.

Holding both arms so the receiver cant get a finger on the ball IS interference.

 

[patsfaninpa]

Holding both arms so the receiver cant get a finger on the ball IS interference.

I meant to add something worse than intefered with. Sometimes that just bumping a guy before the ball gets there. Should have said "mugged" or something like that. Forgot a phrase...oops. Clearly inteference as you guys mentioned.

 

[Off The Grid]

To me this is still the worst loss in Patriots history. On that play my many accounts Sam got the first down but it was a bad spot of the ball. On the next play Russ Frances was interfered badly, everyone saw it but was not called. If there was a fix in an NFL football game that was the game.

Yep.

I remember that play with CRYSTAL clarity: It was on the bottom of the screen. I was watching the game on a freaking 13" TV in the room I shared with my Bro Steve, and glad of THAT...until that ATROCITY of a game.

I've always loved the Raiders, and always will.

Their Renegade Spirit has always spoken directly to my New England Yankee Soul.

But any lump of excrement ~ be it here, or be it there ~ who perpetrates that The Tuck Rule Call was anything BUT sweet, sweet, Poetic Justice, a Celestial Squaring Of The Books, and a Return To Balance In The Cosmos...in MY presence...had BEST get ready to Square OFF.