Johnny Musso, an Alabama running back who scored two of the Tide's touchdowns, barely remembers any of his team's offensive possessions because Cunningham's performance was so dominant. I called Jones and Cunningham to hear some of the old stories, sure, but also to hear about what the game meant then and what it was starting to mean now. (6:08). In 1989, USC Had a Depth Chart of a Dozen Linebackers. He was 65 and had struggled with health issues in recent years. The score was 22-7 at the half, and Jones remembers thinking more during the break about how to extend the lead than whether Alabama might threaten a comeback. The final was 42-21. "That just doesn't make any sense to me," Cunningham says. The Trojans had 12 linebackers on its 1989 depth chart, each leaning into what seemed to be the limitless future football could provide. He played in the 1980 Pro Bowl. The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. What those players did mattered. Documentaries have been made and film scripts shopped. On one play early in the game, Alabama senior quarterback Scott Hunter took the snap and prepared to pass but was swallowed up by Weaver and the USC defense before he could even complete his dropback. Jones, Cunningham and their teammates have been talking about the game for 50 years. The worker who usually did fill-ups and always loved to talk football put his rag down when he saw Hunter and sighed. Now he sees a return to more blatant racism, pundits and politicians pushing a "stick to sports" mantra or intentionally muddling the messaging when Black athletes protest during the national anthem. He was on USC teams that won a pair of Rose Bowls (1975 and 1977) and the 1975 Liberty Bowl. "We're down here not just to win for the mighty Trojans. The Tide had gone through a down period at the end of the 1960s, and the talent gap between the teams was obvious from kickoff. Cunningham thinks a lot of it has to do with Bear Bryant and his place in football lore. In Inglewood, California, Cunningham, the fullback whose 135 yards and two touchdowns against Alabama made him a star, follows the plight of Colin Kaepernick and seethes at the tragic killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and he wonders what exactly a game can mean. "I think he wanted to see if it would rub off," Jones says. Jones abandoned his usual pregame ritual of rehearsing plays in his mind to stare out the window. Join our community at: https://www.playmakerlife.comStart Your Journey To Becoming a Better Athlete Today He then had a long career as a high school football coach, including as the head coach at Tampa Catholic High (1986-90) with a 33-19 record and a district title. "We took five steps forward, and now it's been four steps back," Jones says. The seven-year-old was engrossed in his favorite program in the summer of … Someone like me always calls. LOS ANGELES — David Lewis, an All-Conference outside linebacker at USC who made a game-changing play in the Trojans' legendary comeback win over Notre Dame in their 1974 national championship season and then was a key member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' historic 1979 team that reached the NFC title game, died on Tuesday (July 14) in Tampa, Fla. But a 21-point loss in the first game of the season was not the catalyst for a groundswell of change. Lewis is survived by his wife and a daughter, and predeceased by a son. "Killing Black men wasn't something that wasn't happening, you know?" Jones says. The defense also terrorized Utah’s pair of quarterbacks, tallying three sacks but pressuring them far more often. The Green Bay Packers legend played 15 seasons in the … Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated a little over two years earlier. For Jones, the game takes on different meanings over time, and never more than this year. But this time -- on this anniversary -- they're more circumspect. Menu Search. It is a story emblematic of the notion that there was a trickle-down effect from the game that led many hard-core anti-integrationists to reconsider their stance. "All right, I'll tell you some stories," he says. After the Trojans won the national crown in 1974, they were runners-up in the polls in 1976 when Lewis was an All-Pac-8 first team pick. Defensive end Tody Smith told his teammates he'd bought a gun and brought it with him in his luggage. "It was like junior high kids chasing after him," Musso says. Cunningham remembers telling his father where USC would play its season opener that year and having the elder Cunningham just stare at him for several minutes. These are their stories. He keeps taking phone calls from people like me. The Green Bay Packers’ Clay Matthews, like Seau a linebacker from USC, tweeted: “Tragic news regarding the passing of Junior Seau. Jones lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, near where he grew up, and has watched as acts of police brutality against Black men have spurred protests about racial injustice across the United States. USC Football announced the hire of Chris Claiborne and Hayes Pullard to the coaching staff. He even sent one to Cunningham, who said he chuckled at the idea of moving to Alabama from California at the time. Lewis was a 3-year (1974-76) letterman at USC, having previously played at Lincoln High in San Diego and San Diego City College. "Other people had taken some knives along with them in their suitcases," Jones says. Top 5 USC linebackers. There were no rules against NFL teams using Black quarterbacks in the 1970s and '80s, but Jones -- who left USC as one of its top passers -- never got a job or even a serious look in the NFL. But the only way they were allowed into that university [was] because they can help those programs win. In that way maybe the game in 1970 matters most of all. © 2021 University of Southern California Athletics, United Airlines Field at L.A. Memorial Coliseum, video platform powered by CBS Sports Digital. Five Have Died, Each Before … A must-read story from Sports Illustrated on the linebackers from the 1989 USC football team. TrojanSports.com Staff Writer. University of Southern California USC News. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. The 1989 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season.The season was intended to start historic fashion, with USC set to play Illinois in Moscow in what was dubbed the Glasnost Bowl.However, the plan to play the game at Dynamo Stadium fell through, and the game was rescheduled at Memorial Coliseum. His passion for … He also played for the San Diego Chargers in 1982 and Los Angeles Rams in 1983. LOS ANGELES — David Lewis, an All-Conference outside linebacker at USC who made a game-changing play in the Trojans' legendary comeback win over Notre Dame in their 1974 national championship season and then was a key member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' historic 1979 team that reached the NFC title game, died on Tuesday (July 14) in … Cunningham scored twice, and the Trojans shredded Alabama's defense, outgaining the Crimson Tide by 450 yards. Don't do anything stupid, he finally said. Junior Seau’s Tragic Death Exposed the Lethal Impact of CTE by Stephen Sheehan on June 27, 2020 Few linebackers impacted the game like Junior Seau. The USC players toasted one another and reveled in their accomplishment, for just a little bit, along with a smattering of Black fans who waited for them outside the stadium and cheered as their bus left. The players talked to one another about being sure that they stayed together if they had a reason to be away from the team hotel. On this night, he told himself, a statement win would be exactly that. Always generous with his time, knowledge, and compassion, he touched the lives of countless USC and high school football fans. Weaver, stunned but not cowed, assented. When coach Steve Sarkisian gave early Cameron Smith the jersey number 35, the inside linebacker had no idea there was a tradition at USC. Then, he says, it became more insidious, more under the surface. The 1979 Tampa Bay team, which posted 10 regular season victories after having won just 7 games in the franchise's previous 3 seasons, captured the NFC Central division title and won the first playoff game in franchise history before falling in the NFC championship game. But watching what has happened in Minneapolis, Louisville and Kenosha has made it impossible for the 50th anniversary to feel like a simple celebration. Scott Ross, a former All-America linebacker for USC who played on three Rose Bowl teams, died Sunday in Lafayette, La., the university announced. We're also down here to win this game for our people.". "I think all you have to do is look at what's going on," he says, "and realize that even some of the gains that were made from what we did 50 years ago have been eroded.". USC’s Tragic Linebacking Corps of 1989. To lose him would be tragic, especially if there is a USC coaching change after next season. The safety from Redondo Union High wasn’t the biggest or fastest player on the USC football roster from 2005 to 2008. If USC started a game today in its new 5-2 defensive formation, sophomore Porter Gustin and junior Uchenna Nwosu would start at a hybrid defensive end/linebacker position. When they arrived in Alabama, Jones remembers looking around for signs of discrimination -- a segregated bathroom or water fountain -- but seeing none. They bounced around, never unaware of the sea of white faces in the stands gawking. Story Links. In 1971, Alabama had just one other Black player on its team (John Mitchell, who helped the Tide win at USC in the return matchup of the home-and-home), and it wasn't until 1977 that Alabama had 15 Black football players on scholarship. In his time, it was unvarnished, with rules and precedents restricting access to programs and opportunities. "We had the civil rights movement with them shooting fire hoses and siccing dogs on people," he says. The three merely are achieving the goals they laid out when they arrived on campus. Adam Maya. Officials with the Oceanside Unified School District, where Seau attended school, called the death of one of its most famous alumni “a huge loss.” Seau, who graduated from Oceanside High as a muti-sport letterman before moving north to play college football for USC, is a member of the high school's Hall of Fame. After his playing career ended, Nobis moved to the Atlanta Falcons front office. "We knew it was important not to let up, ever," Jones says. Wilbur Jackson, a Black player from Ozark, Alabama, was on scholarship at Alabama for the USC game but couldn't play because freshmen weren't eligible -- and Bryant had been sending recruitment letters to Black players for years. The line from the 1970 game through the years to Black Lives Matter stamps on jerseys and players kneeling is continuous, he believes. Daily Cover: The Tragedy of the 1989 USC Linebacker Corps In 1989, USC Had a Depth Chart of a Dozen Linebackers. He was 49. Progress was, unsurprisingly, slow and murkily defined. Jones thinks it is because of the name recognition of both programs and the novelty of a team from California, an outsider, coming into the Deep South. When I ask Cunningham about how the game is remembered as having such an impact on Black athletes being recruited in the SEC, he says, "Well, it seems like it changed everything. In the fall of 1970, the USC football team, which finished 15th in the year-end AP poll, conquered fears and prejudices, went into a Deep South still … "Now it's different, but it's still the same, you know what I mean?". The state was run by a segregationist governor, George Wallace, who was headed toward an easy reelection. Super Bowl LV: Ronald Jones II Wins First Ring With Buccaneers, WATCH: USC Football Signing Day Instagram Live Show At 4pm PT, USC Football Announces February Signing Period 2021 Class, #BLVDBound: 2021 USC Football National Signing Day Central, Seth Doege Promoted As USC Football's Tight Ends Coach. "That's when I knew times had changed," Hunter says. "It's going to be an endless line," he says, sounding a little more tired than when he first picked up the phone. Black Alabamians, who weren't allowed to buy tickets to the game, came out on porches and congregated on street corners, waving at the USC bus and cheering as it motored by. That said, USC's class of 1990 alum Junior Seau was one of the greatest to ever play the position, and the 2009 crop of Trojan linebackers — Clay … Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated wrote this longreads piece on the 12 linebackers who were part of the 1989 USC Trojans football roster. "I was at that game," he said. He and Cunningham keep talking about the game, keep thinking about what it means, keep asking and answering questions as the years roll past. Former USC star Chris Claiborne, who joined Clay Helton’s coaching staff last year, is leaving to coach linebackers at Arizona State. Every few years, a writer reaches out to Jones or his teammate Sam Cunningham or any member of the 1970 USC football team, wanting to ask about a football game played half a century ago in Birmingham, Alabama. "It felt like we were animals in a zoo," Cunningham recalls. Football | July 15, 2020. Mike Henry Dies: USC Footballer, LA Ram, Played ‘Tarzan’ And ‘Junior’ In ‘Smokey And The Bandit’, Was 84 Deadline - Bruce Haring. "I think it kind of set in," he says. Fifty years ago, Sam Cunningham and the USC Trojans ran all over Alabama, helping push the Crimson Tide toward integrating their all-white football team. (Courtesy Photo) "Scott Ross was the linebacker next to Junior Seau when he played at USC," DeMars says. USC’s Tragic Linebacking Corps of 1989. PREMIUM CONTENT. The next day, as USC's team bus took a route through one of Birmingham's mostly Black neighborhoods, the larger importance of the trip became clear. He sighs. "That was about when I said to myself, 'OK, if this keeps up, it's going to be a very, very long night,'" Hunter says. Players like Smith, who grew up in Texas and heard stories of police beatings and knew well the horrors of lynchings, warned that even the most benign situations could turn without warning. Lewis was the second round pick by the Buccaneers in the 1977 NFL Draft and spent 5 years (1977-81) with the team. Former USC inside linebacker Matt Gee, the Trojans’ 1991 captain when he led the football team in tackles, died in his sleep Monday in Simi Valley. Seau, best remembered by the general public as the 20-year NFL veteran who … And instances of violence against Black people were all too common; in fact, just days after the game, Birmingham police fired on members of the Black Panthers. Colin Schooler (Jr.), Arizona, Oct. 17, Tucson (AZ). They threw passes to each other and loped up and down the sidelines. WHEN JONES, CUNNINGHAM and their teammates got on the plane in Los Angeles to fly to Alabama, they were understandably frightened by what might await them. Tragic news broke today about the death of linebacker Junior Seau . The hard-hitting linebacker was the NFL rookie of the year in 1966 and was selected for five Pro Bowls. Claiborne should be coaching either inside or outside linebackers. Gee had 210 career tackles at USC, including 97 as a senior in 1991, and was a member of … JIMMY JONES KNEW I was going to call. But he does pick up. Players who ended their careers to join the military and died while in service are included. Later at the team hotel, a few players stood in the lobby as a white fan approached linebacker Charlie Weaver. Which teams are recruiting the best at each defensive position in 2021? The Tragic Death of Green Bay Packers Legend Ray Nitschke by Jack Dougherty on June 29, 2020 You can’t have a conversation about the greatest NFL linebackers of all time without Ray Nitschke. In the fall of 1970, the USC football team, which finished 15th in the year-end AP poll, conquered fears and prejudices, went into a Deep South still marked by racism and discrimination, and put a hurting on a team coached by the legendary Bryant. "So he was a … In the 1974 game versus Notre Dame, in which the Trojans trailed 24-0 just prior to halftime before scoring 55 unanswered points for the victory, Lewis' crushing hit of Irish kick returner Mark McLane at the 8-yard line on ND's first kickoff return of the second half helped turn the game around. Adds Hunter: "Their Black guys were bigger, stronger, faster than us; their white guys were bigger, stronger, faster; and if they had any polka-dot guys, they were bigger, stronger and faster.". This is a list of players of American football who died while still on a team roster. The fan asked to touch his dark skin. Scott DeMars played at USC from 1997 to 2001. A FEW DAYS after the game, Hunter went to put gas in his car at a station in Tuscaloosa. Jones sees a disturbing arc of how discrimination presents itself in sports. The program's breadth of talent through the years is arguably greater at this position than at any other. A ferocious hitter with sideline-to-sideline speed, he grew into a household name as the leader of the San Diego Chargers. "It's a direct line," he says, "and it will continue to run.". The Trojans had 12 linebackers on its 1989 depth chart, each leaning into what seemed to be the limitless future football could provide. Mike Henry, a USC and NFL linebacker and later an actor in Tarzan movies of the 1960s and the “Smokey and the Bandit” series, has died. Jones has a deliberate way of speaking, and even now, at 70 years old, the former quarterback projects the calm of a playcaller in the huddle. Although history beckons, USC linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. doesn’t find it the least bit surprising. 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In the end, the white fans at Legion were quiet, the Alabama players were desperate to get to their locker room, and Bryant, the revered Tide coach, headed to the USC locker room to congratulate the Trojans on what they had done. "Just in case.". Michael Rosenberg was listening to The Lone Ranger on the radio when his entire world crumbled. USC held Utah to 119 yards on the ground, the lowest rushing total allowed by the Trojans in their annual divisional matchup since 2015. "Did it really change, or was it just convenience?". Garry Paskwietz was a pioneer in bringing team-specific sports coverage to the internet. One of a catalog of books through the years calls it "The Game That Changed a Nation.". He was 45. The nickname is seldom used, but USC has also been called Linebacker U. The divide still existed just beneath the surface, though, and the Trojans felt it as they conducted their walk-through at Alabama's Legion Field. "We were young, but we weren't that young.". Both were former linebackers that had solid careers with the Trojans. Behind that improved effort was a much-maligned pair of linebackers. 5.] The players stretched and ran. "And, man, we've got to have some of them players.". His mind jumps to Kaepernick, a Black athlete who protested against systemic racism and might never play in the NFL again. Which college football teams are recruiting the best at each position on offense in 2021? The O/NSO understands that DC Todd Orlando also coaches the linebackers, but it would be disappointing if … Search ... USC College alumnus and former San Francisco 49er linebacker. Big 12 football schedule 2021: Dates and key matchups, McShay's new NFL mock draft: Playmakers galore, early QB picks ... and two trades, National signing day reaction: Michigan, USC among college football winners in February, Iowa St. extends Campbell's deal through 2028. Five of the 12 on the depth chart have died. He was on the Tampa Catholic staff upon his passing. The country is going through a reckoning on race that touches everything -- the things right in front of us, like jobs and schools and what happens when we walk down the street, and the things in our past too, like contests between football teams that felt like clashes between cultures. Then they flew home and prepared for another game the next weekend against Nebraska. He founded WeAreSC in 1998 and was an Emmy winner for his work with Fox Sports West. Sam Borden joins the ESPN Daily podcast to discuss the real legacy of the 1970 USC-Alabama game, according to players who lived it. We are back to rank the top five opposing inside linebackers on USC's schedule for the 2020 season. Listen, He talks about the matchup in which his all-Black USC backfield (Jones, Cunningham and tailback Clarence Davis) beat up on Bear Bryant's all-white Alabama team on Sept. 12, 1970, and how, in the years since, the game has for many become a defining moment in the history of race in American football, the tipping point toward a truly integrated sport. Included are players in professional and college football who have died of any cause. In 1975, he led USC in tackles (90), tackles for loss (12) and fumble recoveries (4). Cunningham remembers looking out and seeing children shouting, ecstatic to see athletes who looked like they did. The air was thick and heavy with humidity.

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