William Cunningham (American football)
Encyclopedia
William Ralph Cunningham (July 13, 1872 – September 1957) was an All-American
football
center
for the University of Michigan
Wolverines
.
Cunningham was born at Volant, Pennsylvania
in July 1872. His father, Valentine Cunningham, was a native of Grove City, Pennsylvania
.
Cunningham was a 5-foot, 9-inch, 180-pound native of Grove City, Pennsylvania
who played center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1897-1899. Chosen as an All-American in 1898, he was the first University of Michigan football player to be so honored. The 1898 Wolverines
went 10-0 and won the Western Conference
(now known as the Big Ten Conference
) championship. The first great Michigan football team, the 1898 group outscored its opponents 205 to 26. They shut out Michigan Agricultural College
(39-0) and Notre Dame
(23-0) before traveling to Chicago for a final game against Amos Alonzo Stagg
's University of Chicago
team on November 24, 1898. Led by Cunningham, Michigan came out on top, 12-11, for its first Western Conference
championship.
A newspaper account described Michigan's victory this way: "The western football championship goes to Michigan. On a field that was simply perfect for fast football, and before a crowd of 12,000 the maroons of Chicago went down before the maize and blue of Michigan today by a score of 12 to 11. . . . The Michigan line, in which big holes were torn by the light Northwestern team, was simply impregnable today, with the exception of about ten minutes in the second half, when the Chicago men pushed their opponents aside with an apparent ease."
Another article noted: "Michigan, with the exception of one or two double passes, relied almost altogether on straight football, line bucking and runs around the end. Chicago, on the contrary, used trick plays throughout but the team work was of a high order, as shown by both teams."
Based on his performance in the Chicago game, Stagg recommended Cunningham as an All-American. At that time, the All-American selections were made by Caspar Whitney
, who preceded Walter Camp
in that role. Michigan's 12-11 victory over Chicago in 1898 also served as the inspiration for Louis Elbel to write The Victors
, Michigan's fight song. Elbel's lyric, "Champions of the West," refers to Michigan's having won the Western Conference championship for the first time in the school's history.
In the 1898 Michigan team photograph, taken after the victory over Chicago, Cunningham is second from the right in the back row.
Cunningham's selection as an All-American in 1898 "broke the unwritten tradition that All-Americans had to come from Yale, Harvard, Princeton or a few other Eastern schools."
Cunningham became a medical missionary in China. In a December 1921 passport applications, Cunningham identified himself as a physician with his permanent residence in Grove City, Pennsylvania
. He stated that he had left the United States on October 1904, and returned in October 1912. He traveled to China again as a medical missionary in 1922.
Cunningham was the first in a long line of University of Michigan centers to be named All-American, including Germany Schulz
, Ernie Vick
, Jack Blott
, Maynard Morrison
, Chuck Bernard
, and Jon Jansen
.
In 1955, Cunningham was named to the all-time Medical All-American Team, composed of former All-American football players who later became doctors. The list was compiled and published by "Spectrum," a medical journal. At that time, Cunningham was retired and living in Grove City, Pennsylvania
. He died in 1957 at the age of 84.
In 2005, Cunningham was selected as one of the 100 greatest Michigan football players of all time by the "Motown Sports Revival," ranking 30th on the all-time team.
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
for the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
.
Cunningham was born at Volant, Pennsylvania
Volant, Pennsylvania
Volant is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 113 at the 2000 census.-History:The land on which the borough of Volant currently sits on was bought from the Native Americans in 1784. The first grist mill was built on the Neshannock Creek in 1806 and was...
in July 1872. His father, Valentine Cunningham, was a native of Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City is a borough in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, approximately north of Pittsburgh. It is the home of Grove City College, a private conservative Christian liberal arts college; General Electric; Instron; USIS; George G. Howe Co.; and a number of small businesses. It is also the home to...
.
Cunningham was a 5-foot, 9-inch, 180-pound native of Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City is a borough in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, approximately north of Pittsburgh. It is the home of Grove City College, a private conservative Christian liberal arts college; General Electric; Instron; USIS; George G. Howe Co.; and a number of small businesses. It is also the home to...
who played center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1897-1899. Chosen as an All-American in 1898, he was the first University of Michigan football player to be so honored. The 1898 Wolverines
1898 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1898 college football season. The team, with Gustave Ferbert as head coach, went 10–0 and became the first Michigan football team to win the Western Conference championship. The first great Michigan football...
went 10-0 and won the Western Conference
Western Conference
Western Conference may refer to:* Western Conference , one of two conferences in Major League Soccer* Western Conference , one of the two conferences of the National Basketball Association...
(now known as the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
) championship. The first great Michigan football team, the 1898 group outscored its opponents 205 to 26. They shut out Michigan Agricultural College
Michigan State Spartans football
The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...
(39-0) and Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
(23-0) before traveling to Chicago for a final game against Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football...
's University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
team on November 24, 1898. Led by Cunningham, Michigan came out on top, 12-11, for its first Western Conference
Western Conference
Western Conference may refer to:* Western Conference , one of two conferences in Major League Soccer* Western Conference , one of the two conferences of the National Basketball Association...
championship.
A newspaper account described Michigan's victory this way: "The western football championship goes to Michigan. On a field that was simply perfect for fast football, and before a crowd of 12,000 the maroons of Chicago went down before the maize and blue of Michigan today by a score of 12 to 11. . . . The Michigan line, in which big holes were torn by the light Northwestern team, was simply impregnable today, with the exception of about ten minutes in the second half, when the Chicago men pushed their opponents aside with an apparent ease."
Another article noted: "Michigan, with the exception of one or two double passes, relied almost altogether on straight football, line bucking and runs around the end. Chicago, on the contrary, used trick plays throughout but the team work was of a high order, as shown by both teams."
Based on his performance in the Chicago game, Stagg recommended Cunningham as an All-American. At that time, the All-American selections were made by Caspar Whitney
Caspar Whitney
Caspar William Whitney was an American author, editor, explorer, and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for Harper's Magazine....
, who preceded Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
in that role. Michigan's 12-11 victory over Chicago in 1898 also served as the inspiration for Louis Elbel to write The Victors
The Victors
"The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan . It was composed by UM student Louis Elbel in 1898 following the last-minute football victory over the University of Chicago that clinched a league championship...
, Michigan's fight song. Elbel's lyric, "Champions of the West," refers to Michigan's having won the Western Conference championship for the first time in the school's history.
In the 1898 Michigan team photograph, taken after the victory over Chicago, Cunningham is second from the right in the back row.
Cunningham's selection as an All-American in 1898 "broke the unwritten tradition that All-Americans had to come from Yale, Harvard, Princeton or a few other Eastern schools."
Cunningham became a medical missionary in China. In a December 1921 passport applications, Cunningham identified himself as a physician with his permanent residence in Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City is a borough in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, approximately north of Pittsburgh. It is the home of Grove City College, a private conservative Christian liberal arts college; General Electric; Instron; USIS; George G. Howe Co.; and a number of small businesses. It is also the home to...
. He stated that he had left the United States on October 1904, and returned in October 1912. He traveled to China again as a medical missionary in 1922.
Cunningham was the first in a long line of University of Michigan centers to be named All-American, including Germany Schulz
Germany Schulz
Adolph George "Germany" Schulz was an All-American American football center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1904 to 1905 and from 1907 to 1908. While playing at Michigan, Schulz is credited with having invented the spiral snap and with developing the practice of standing behind the...
, Ernie Vick
Ernie Vick
Henry Arthur "Ernie" Vick was an American football and baseball player. He was selected as an All-American center in 1921, played on the 1926 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.-University of Michigan:Born in Toledo, Ohio, Vick...
, Jack Blott
Jack Blott
Jack Leonard Blott was an All-American football center and place kicker for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1922–1923. He was also a baseball catcher for the Wolverines from 1922–1924. After a two-game Major League Baseball career with the Cincinnati Reds in 1924, he worked as...
, Maynard Morrison
Maynard Morrison (American football)
Maynard Davis "Doc" Morrison was an All-American football fullback and center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1929-1931. Michigan football coach Harry Kipke ranked Morrison as the finest linebacker he ever saw. "No one ever got past him," Kipke said...
, Chuck Bernard
Chuck Bernard
Joseph Charles "Chuck" Bernard was a professional American football center who played for the Detroit Lions in 1934 and was a two-time All-American at the University of Michigan. He was born in Chicago, Illinois....
, and Jon Jansen
Jon Jansen
Jonathan Ward Jansen is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft...
.
In 1955, Cunningham was named to the all-time Medical All-American Team, composed of former All-American football players who later became doctors. The list was compiled and published by "Spectrum," a medical journal. At that time, Cunningham was retired and living in Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City is a borough in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, approximately north of Pittsburgh. It is the home of Grove City College, a private conservative Christian liberal arts college; General Electric; Instron; USIS; George G. Howe Co.; and a number of small businesses. It is also the home to...
. He died in 1957 at the age of 84.
In 2005, Cunningham was selected as one of the 100 greatest Michigan football players of all time by the "Motown Sports Revival," ranking 30th on the all-time team.
See also
- 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team1898 Michigan Wolverines football teamThe 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1898 college football season. The team, with Gustave Ferbert as head coach, went 10–0 and became the first Michigan football team to win the Western Conference championship. The first great Michigan football...
- 1898 College Football All-America Team1898 College Football All-America TeamThe 1898 College Football All-America team is composed of American football players who were selected as the best players at their positions by various organizations that chose College Football All-America Teams that season...
- List of Michigan Wolverines football All-Americans