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.