Joe Al Cunningham

Joe Al Cunningham ( 1947 Purcell High School Graduate )

Letterman Purcell High School Football (1943 - 1946)

Letterman Purcell High School Basketball (1943 - 1947)

Letterman Purcell High School Track (1944 - 1947)

Letterman Purcell High School Baseball (1944 -1947)

Guard / Forward on PHS State Quarter-Finalist Basketball Team (1945 - 1946)

Quarterback State Semi-Finalist PHS Football Team ( 1946 )

Rushed for 1,011 yards and scored 24 touchdowns in 1946. For the year, he was (31 - 64) passing while throwing 10 touchdown passes. He also kicked 14 extra points during the season

Named as All-District B-3 Quaterback ( 1946 )

Selected to the Oklahoma High School All-State Football Team as a Quarterback ( 1946 )

Guard / Forward on PHS State-Finalist Basketball Team (1946 - 1947)

During the track season of 1947, Joe recorded the fastest high school time in Oklahoma in the 110 yard high hurdles and the 220 yard low hurdles before suffering a season-ending injury.

Quarterback and Team Captain in the 1947 Oil Bowl for the Oklahoma High School All-Star team which was defeated 14-0 by a Texas High School All-Star team quarterbacked by Hayden Fry

Letterman University of Oklahoma Football Team (1948 - 1950). Joe played Running Back for the legendary Bud Wilkinson, and was a member of OU's first National Championship Team.

After graduation from OU, Joe was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Joe served his country with valor in both Korea, and in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge

Joe's Army training included Green Beret / Special Forces, Airborne / Ranger, and Armor. While in Vietnam, Joe was also a Senior U.S. Army Advisor to the South Vietnamese Ranger Command

Joe would eventually rise to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. He also served as a Professor of Military Science at Eastern New Mexico University before his retirement from the Army

In 1984, Joe was elected to the Oklahoma State House of Representatives District 46 which includes the Purcell area

Named as a Quarterback on the 1940's All-Decade PHS Football Team by Purcell Football Alumni

Named as a Defensive Back on the All-Century (1900 - 1999) PHS Football Team by Purcell Football Alumni

Mr. Cunningham Passed Away in 2011

OU Football Roster 1950

Oklahoma All State team 1946

Oil Bowl Synopsis (1940s)

Norman Transcript Obituary