Team Player: Retiree supports Butler football
BUTLER TWP — DuWayne Cunningham remembers the glory days.
He was a part of them.
The 1968 Butler Area High School graduate was a center-defensive tackle for the Golden Tornado football team. He played with Rich and Ron Saul, fellow Butler grads who went on to lengthy NFL careers.
He played in the Big 33 Game, an all-star football event for the elite players in Pennsylvania.
“I took a few bumps to the head,” Cunningham said, laughing. “That's pretty much how my career ended.”
He played two years of football for Mesa College in Colorado before winding up at the University of Texas-El Paso. He suffered a concussion there and Cunningham's playing career ended.His love for football didn't.After assisting now Congressman Mike Kelly in coaching the Penn Street Cardinals of the old Butler Area Midget Football League for 10 years, Cunningham got away from the game as he became a business owner.A longtime member of the Golden Tornado Foundation — an organization supporting Butler athletics — Cunningham has always lent a helping hand.He helped build the Annex building, the locker room and weight room facility at Art Bernardi Stadium, nearly 25 years ago. He helped install the stadium lights.Now retired from Cunningham Shanor, he wanted to be around football again.Cunningham will turn 71 in October. He joined the Butler coaching staff before the 2019 season.“I approached (Butler High School football coach) Eric Christy and told him I wanted to help out,” Cunningham said. “Whatever he needed, I was willing to do.”Christy wasn't about to turn him down.“DuWayne showed up here one day and asked if I needed some help, that he was interested,” Christy said. “I told him I'm always looking for help, asked if he wanted a paid position or volunteer.“When he said volunteer, I said come on board. That guy was one of the best. He's provided a boost for us in so many ways.”Besides helping out as an offensive line coach, Cunningham has done numerous work behind the scenes. A handyman by trade, he's repaired equipment and is in the process of expanding the team's film study room.Cunningham is knocking out the wall of the room, expanding the space by a few feet, then replacing the wall.“By making the film room bigger, more kids can get in there to watch,” Cunningham said. “The track team uses this locker room part of the year, so this room isn't always available. Little things like that can make a difference.“It's a gradual process. “I'll come in here and work for a week. I have a cottage up at Conneaut Lake and we'll go up there the following week. It's back and forth like that.”The coaching staff is more than willing to wait.“The man donated his 60-inch TV for us to watch film on in that room,” Butler defensive coordinator Bill Elliott said. “When the season's over, he takes it back.“He does so many things behind the scenes. He's repaired our sled we use in practice. He put together another one for the middle school team to use.“It's easy to talk like you care. DuWayne shows that he cares,” Elliott added.
Cunningham recently had a heart catherization. That, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, has prevented him from getting on the field with the team during preseason conditioning this summer.He misses that part of the game. And the coaching staff misses him.“DuWayne stays in the background. He's such a humble person,” Christy said. “But he's not afraid to offer a suggestion when he sees it will help. He's come up with ideas we never would have thought of.“He quickly makes his point, then fades back into the background. DuWayne improved our communication with the kids during practice and he knows his X's and O's.”While unable to get on the field, Cunningham continues to help in other ways. He cleans the locker room area and is continually working on renovations of the facility.“The more I do in here, the less time coaches need to spend on it,” he said. “My work helps them get home to their families that much quicker and that's important.”Cunningham also puts in time working with the players in the weight room. He does more than help structure procedure in the room.He lifts weights in the room alongside them.“It's not to show them I'm one of the boys,” Cunningham insists. “Too often in this world, we tell people what to do without being willing to do it with them.”Christy is impressed by Cunningham's knack for getting projects done.“He's always kept up with technology and the times,” the coach said. “We come up with ideas for the program, he executes and gets them done.”Elliott agreed.“DuWayne has been phenomenal. He's a joy to have around,” Elliott said. “We have people in this community who care. He's certainly one of them.”
