In honor of MLK Day, Campus Insiders’ Rich Cirminiello takes a look back at a few of college football’s most impactful pioneers including Paul Robeson, Eddie Robinson and Sam “Bam” Cunningham.

Sam Cunningham

Cunningham played fullback at USC for three seasons before being drafted by the New England Patriots. His impact on college football, though, transcended the simplicity of the Trojan history books.

Although no single individual was responsible for the integration of college football in the south, Cunningham hastened the process. As a rookie in 1970, he was one-third of the first all-black backfield in Division I history. Cunningham debuted with 135 yards and two scores at all-white Alabama, making it more socially acceptable for Bear Bryant to sign African-American a year later. Hyperbolic though it may be, the memorable quote that “Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years” is indicative of the back’s influence at such a contentious moment in the game’s history.

Duffy Daugherty

Daugherty took over the Michigan State head coaching job in 1954, changing the landscape of college football forever while putting together a powerhouse.

It took a few years and lots of pushing up the mountain – the Spartans were always close to being great, but couldn’t take the Big Ten – and then everything turned, coming up with a huge 1965 season and winning the 1966 national championship helped by some of the greatest players in college football history. While other top programs had no interest in integrating, Daughtery made it a point at MSU, utilizing his recruiting ties to the South and bringing in elite prospects Bubba Smith, George Webster, and other African-Americans who weren’t able to go to other schools closer to home. Daugherty not only made it a point to integrate, but he served as a mentor to several players, coaches, and other programs to help change the culture of college sports.

Jerry LeVias

In many ways, LeVias was the Jackie Robinson of the Southwest Conference, one of the final leagues to integrate in the mid-1960s.

LeVias starred for SMU after becoming the first African-American player to be pursued by the SWC. He persevered though racial slurs, cheap shots and even death threats to help pave the way for minority student-athletes to follow in his footsteps. And, much like Robinson two decades earlier, LeVias maintained his composure through unspeakable adversity, even receiving counsel from Dr. King following a 1966 speech. Breaking the SWC color barrier took an enormous toll on LeVias, but his courage and dignity left an indelible mark on southern college football during a time of great tumult and social upheaval.

William H. Lewis

The first African-American college football player, Lewis went on to do far bigger things as a noted civil rights leader and Assistant Attorney General under William Howard Taft. But before blazing trails in other areas, he was a fantastic 175-pound center at Harvard earning All-America honors in the late 1890s and eventually being named to Walter Camp’s All-Time All-America team.

While he never served as the head coach, he was a key part of the staff at Harvard for 11 years during an era of dominance – the team went 114-15-5 – before going on to his life in law.

Fritz Pollard

Pollard’s life and career were marked by a series of firsts. But in a segregated society, being first is often greeted with more jeers and hatred than cheers and support.

Pollard was a bona fide football trailblazer; first African-American to play in the Rose Bowl, first black running back to be named Walter Camp All-American, and the first black coach and quarterback in the early days of the NFL. Pollard was endowed with a pioneering spirit that helped him to overcome racism and succeed long after his football career had ended. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame, the first African-American to be inducted into the latter.

Paul Robeson

Robeson was a renaissance man at a time when segregation was still legal in the United States.

Robeson was Jim Brown years before Brown was even born. While at Rutgers from 1915-18, he overcame blatant racism to earn letters in baseball, basketball and track, while twice being named All-American in football. However, it was away from sports that Robeson chipped away at stereotypes and set the standard for what’s possible for subsequent generations. He was an accomplished singer and actor, as well as a peaceful activist traveling the world to speak out against racism, inequality and persecution. Robeson’s enduring commitment to the plight of the oppressed and the underserved was in many ways tantamount to Dr. King’s life’s work.

Eddie Robinson

Robinson wasn’t a legendary black football coach. He was a legendary football coach who just happened to be black.

Robinson was a luminary within the coaching ranks, remaining relevant throughout every stage of a career at historically black Grambling State that remarkably spanned more than five decades. He was one of the winningest coaches in the sport’s history, finishing 408-165-15. Robinson, though, was even more impactful on the lives of his players, preparing more than 200 Tigers for careers in the NFL and hundreds for life after football. He turned Grambling into a destination spot for young black student-athletes in the south, particularly when the SEC and Southwest Conference were still segregated.