Nate Cunningham, member of IU's 1967 Rose Bowl team and a pioneering Black coach, dies
DANVILLE, Ill. – Nate Cunningham was the seventh of 14 children born to an Arkansas sharecropper and attended a segregated grade school in Illinois. Coming out of high school, he had three choices: military, factory or football.
He chose the latter, and the rest is Indiana University history.
Cunningham, a defensive back on the Hoosiers’ 1967 Rose Bowl team, died April 5 at home. He was 75.
More: 50 years ago, IU football made the Rose Bowl — no, really
In 1966, Indiana was 1-8-1 and lost to Purdue 51-6. If the Hoosiers were not the worst team in major college football, they were close to it.
A year later, if not the best team in the nation, they were close to it. They finished the regular season 9-1 and ranked No. 4. In the Rose Bowl, they lost to 14-3 to Southern California and O.J. Simpson.
“It seemed like once we got rolling, we got the job done,” Cunningham said in a 2017 interview with IndyStar.
“We had great athletes and hard-working people, and a super coaching staff.”
Cunningham, a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball, grew up 35 miles from Illinois’ Big Ten campus. But Indiana made him more of a priority, he said.
He was recruited by Howard Brown, the freshman coach. Brown was a decorated World War II infantryman and MVP of the Hoosiers’ 1945 Big Ten championship team.
On an IU team with a dozen Black players, coach John Pont “was an equal ass-kicker,” Cunningham said.
After the Hoosiers won their Big Ten opener 20-7 at Illinois, Cunningham was awarded the game ball. Another of his season highlights was returning an interception 41 yards for a touchdown in a 42-7 victory at Arizona.
He was a first team All-Big Ten selection in 1968 and ended his football career by playing in the East-West Shrine Bowl.
Cunningham went on to a coaching career with stops in Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, California, Georgia and Michigan.
In 1985, he became the first Black head football coach at Danville (Ill.) High School. He led the Vikings to an 81-53 record (.604) and seven state playoff appearances in 14 years. He retired in 2007.
“I was the most fortunate man in the world because I had some great mentors and some great teachers over the years,” Cunningham said. “It just seemed to happen that way.”
He is survived by his wife, Theresa; a son, Nathaniel Jr. of Chicago; two daughters, Nina Givner of Cincinnati and Yanette Pedersen of Atlanta; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren, five sisters and two brothers.
Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Nate Cunningham died: A member of IU's football 1967 Rose Bowl team
