MEDIA: HBO finds the roots of college football integration
Sam “Bam” Cunningham may have pushed the ball into the end zone a couple of times during an historic September night in 1970 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. But without some lead blocks thrown years earlier by players such Darryl Hill, Jerry LeVias, Wilbur Hackett and Thom Gossom, it could very well never have taken place.
The barriers that a Trojans squad with Cunningham, Jimmy Jones and many more African-American players were able to help break down during that season opener against Bear Bryant’s Alabama squad are the end product of the latest HBO documentary, “Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football,” which debuts Tuesday at 10 p.m.
Those who heroically chipped away at the college football’s segregated boundaries in the South during the 1950s and ’60s, with the help of forward-thinking coaches such as Lee Corso and Hayden Fry, are what set the stage for a game that’s carried so much significance over the years.
dailynews.com
12/11/08
Magnolia Tribune
