Dear editor,
My old high school teammate, Brent Cunningham, was recently voted into the 2026 Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame Class.
Brent led Putnam in 1967 to their only State Football Championship in their history with 35 touchdowns, seven interceptions as a free safety, and punted for a 36-yard average in only 12 games. But Brent would never accept that others realized he was a special talent, being that he was humble to the core. He would defer the credit to the other three or four All-State players playing with him on the team and his other teammates if given the opportunity.
Brent went on to star as a running back at Georgia Tech and was praised as “The Best We’ve Seen” by GT head coaching icon Bobby Dodd, and also Hall of Fame Commerce head coach Ray Lamb from his days at Warren County.
He also ran 9.7 in the 100-yard dash as a member of Georgia Tech’s track team. Brent is in the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame and is one of 11 inducted into Eatonton’s Old School History Museum’s Wall of Fame (oldschoolhistorymuseum. org/blog/wall-of-fame), unveiled on April 7, 2024.
As a lifelong friend and teammate of Brent, this was a five-year project of mine personally, and as a voting member now of the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, it gives me great pride to see Brent Cunningham in the 2026 induction class, he earned it.
For those who played at Putnam County, or saw him play at Putnam or Georgia Tech, to borrow a quote from World Boxing Champion Evander Holyfield, Brent was “the real deal Holyfield.”
Charles Winslette Eatonton