Randall Cunningham

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For former United States Representative Randall "Duke" Cunningham, see Duke Cunningham.

Randall W. Cunningham (born March 27, 1963 in Santa Barbara, California) is a former American football quarterback.

After playing college football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he was selected in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he remained through the 1995 season. He announced his retirement from football following the end of that season, taking a job as an analyst for TNT in 1996 . The following year, however, he resumed his playing career. He played for the Minnesota Vikings (1997-1999), the Dallas Cowboys (2000), and the Baltimore Ravens (2001). Cunningham then re-signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and retired for good in 2002 . He won the Bert Bell Award in 1990, the height of the 'Ultimate Weapon' stories.

[edit] High school and college

Cunningham attended Santa Barbara High School in Santa Barbara, California, and was a graduate of the class of 1981.^[1] As a senior, he led his team to a League title and the CIF Finals.^[2]

[edit] NFL career

[edit] Philadelphia Eagles

Cunningham was the Eagles' second-round pick in the 1985 NFL Draft. Cunningham was also sought by the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits that same year. Eagles owner Norman Braman refused to negotiate with Cunningham if he accepted offers from the Bandits. Ultimately, the USFL folded, thus ending that issue. In his rookie season he played sparingly as a backup to veteran Ron Jaworski but made a big splash with his uncanny scrambling ability, though he completed just 34 percent of his passes and threw just one touchdown against eight interceptions. In 1986, new head coach Buddy Ryan arrived in Philadelphia and made wholesale changes, many of them unorthodox. At the quarterback position, Ryan designated 35-year-old Ron Jaworski the starter but would replace the aging veteran with the fleet-footed Cunningham in third-and-long situations where the youngster’s scrambling would presumably put the defense on its heels. After a hand injury to Jaworski in week 10, Cunningham would replace him as the Eagles’ starter. Cunningham was permanently handed the Eagles' starting job for the 1987 season. Cunningham was said to have reached "elite" status during the 1988 season, when he threw for 407 yards during the "Fog Bowl" playoff game against the Chicago Bears.

Cunningham would occasionally exhibit sensational feats of athleticism, perhaps most notably in a 1988 game on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants. Linebacker Carl Banks torpedoed in and crunched the Eagles quarterback at the midriff for a seemingly sure tackle. Cunningham managed to twist his body in midair, put a hand down for balance while parallel to the ground, regain his footing, and pass to tight end Jimmie Giles for a touchdown. The following season, Cunningham uncorked a 91-yard punt, aided by a strong Meadowlands wind, on third down to clinch a key game against the Giants. The Giants backpedaling defense was unprepared for the punt, allowing it to bounce for more than 24 yards after it traveled 67 yards through the air. As of 2007, it is the fourth-longest punt in NFL history.

Another highlight staple was in a 1990 game against the Buffalo Bills, when Cunningham, throwing from his end zone, was about to be engulfed from the blind side by Bruce Smith. Cunningham ducked under the flying tackle and heaved a pass 60 yards into the wind while off-balance on his back foot to wide-receiver Fred Barnett, resulting in an unforgettable 95-yard touchdown. That same year, Cunningham finished with 942 rushing yards, 3rd most ever for a quarterback, 10th best in the league. This nearly made him the first quarterback to both run and pass for 1,000 yards in a season (which Michael Vick accomplished in 2006).

[edit] Minnesota Vikings

Cunningham joined the Vikings in 1997 after being out of football in 1996. There he reunited with former Eagles wide receiver Cris Carter. In his first year with the Vikings, he orchestrated two late touchdown drives to defeat the New York Giants in an NFC Wild Card game at Giants Stadium.

Cunningham enjoyed the greatest season of his career in Minnesota during the 1998 campaign when he guided the Vikings to a 15-1 regular season record with 34 touchdown passes and only 10 interceptions. Cunningham had a good supporting cast that year, with All-Pro veteran Cris Carter and rookie sensation Randy Moss at receiver, and Robert Smith in the backfield. Cunningham led the league with a 106.0 passer rating while the Vikings posted a then-NFL record 556 points during the 1998 season. The Vikings cruised through the playoffs for the most part, and seemed a lock to end up in the Super Bowl, until the NFC title game against the Atlanta Falcons, which they lost 30-27 in overtime.

In his final 10 NFL seasons, Cunningham played in only 80 games, but finished his 16-year career completing 2,429 of his 4,289 attempts for 29,997 yards and 204 touchdowns, with 134 interceptions. He was sacked 484 times, second-most all time to John Elway. Cunningham also rushed for 4,928 yards on 775 carries and 35 touchdowns. He retired after the 2001 season as the NFL's all-time leader in rushing yards and carries for the quarterback position and tied for fourth with Steve Grogan in rushing touchdowns by a QB. Cunningham also averaged 30.6 rushing yards per game during his career -- second most all-time for quarterbacks, behind Michael Vick.

[edit] After retirement

After retirement, Cunningham returned to UNLV to finish his college degree. Cunningham has also been active in the music business since his retirement from the NFL by opening a recording studio and producing a musical group. Cunningham, a born again Christian, became an ordained Protestant minister and founded a church called Remnant Ministries in Las Vegas in 2004.[1]

[edit] Legacy

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (June 2007)

Cunningham arguably falls into the same genre as Barry Sanders and Warren Moon. Despite winning numerous awards and competing against the best of their era statistically, the two never had the quality coaching or supporting cast of players offensively to win a Super Bowl throughout most of their career.

Doug Scovil, the quarterbacks coach credited with developing Randall Cunningham into the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, died in December of 1989.[2] Cunningham's head coach to date with the best winning percentage is Brian Billick 75-53 (0.586). Billick was Cunningham's head coach in Baltimore during the 2001-02 season. Billick was also Cunningham's offensive coordinator in Minnesota while the late Chip Myers [3] served as Minnesota's quarterbacks coach during the 1998-99 season.

None of Randall Cunningham's offensive lineman made the Pro Bowl during his tenure in Philadelphia. While Cunningham was an Eagle, other quarterbacks who were recipients of the NFL MVP/Player of the Year Awards (Boomer Esiason, Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Brett Favre) had offensive linemen who made the Pro Bowl while they served as quarterback for their respective teams. Former Eagles offensive guard Mike Schad stated,"Buddy always said we were two offensive linemen away from winning a Super Bowl." [4] Former Eagles tight end Keith Jackson stated,"Buddy always said that we were two offensive linemen away from dominating and winning a Super Bowl because you have to keep the quarterback healthy," [5] Former Minnesota Vikings Randall McDaniel, Todd Steussie, and Jeff Christy would be Cunningham's first Pro Bowl offensive linemen.

Despite his fame as a Super Bowl quarterback with the Chicago Bears, Jim McMahon was unable to lead the Eagles to a playoff victory when he replaced Randall for a few plays in a playoff game against the Washington Redskins during the 1990-91. When Randall Cunningham was lost for the 1991-92 season, the Eagles failed to make the playoffs despite having the number one defense in total yards. Once again when Cunningham was hurt during the 1993-94 season, the Philadelphia Eagles failed to make the playoffs.

To date NFC East teams have a combined 18 Super Bowl appearances and combined 10 wins, which is the most out of any division in the NFL. During Cunningham's 11 seasons in Philadelphia, NFC East teams won 7 Super Bowls.

Prior to Cunningham’s arrival in the NFL, the idea that African Americans could succeed at the quarterback position was questioned by some head coaches around the league. The late career success of Doug Williams, the amazing but unheralded play of Joe Gilliam, the mixed success of Vince Evans, and the sparing play of James Harris not withstanding, Randall Cunningham and Warren Moon were the first black men to lead consistently from the quarterback position. Randall’s athleticism and coach Buddy Ryan’s understanding of what kind of pressure a game-breaker like Cunningham could put on a defense, proved that a scrambler could not just survive but thrive. His success brought about the revolution of the so-called running quarterback to the modern era NFL and paved the way for players such as Daunte Culpepper, Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, Steve McNair, Kordell Stewart, David Garrard and Vince Young. [6]

[edit] Trivia

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• Cunningham's older brother, Sam Cunningham, was a Pro Bowl running back for the New England Patriots and a part of a USC Trojan team that steamrolled the Alabama Crimson Tide 42-21 on September 12, 1970, helping to integrate Southern college football. Jerry Claiborne was later quoted as saying, "Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years." A mere three years later, over a third of the previously all-white Alabama team was African-American and Alabama became national champions for the ninth time.

• Cunningham won a cult following after his "non-appearance" in the 1991 Nintendo Entertainment System video game, Tecmo Super Bowl. Since Cunningham was not a member of NFL Player's Association marketing agreement, his name was replaced with QB Eagles.

• Cunningham is a player on the NFL Legends team in the video game NFL Street 2 and is the fastest quarterback in the game.

• As an underclassman at UNLV, one of Cunningham's fellow QBs there was current ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne.

• Cunningham is Buddy Ryan's only starting quarterback to make the playoffs during Ryan's head coaching career. Steve Beuerlein, Jim McMahon, Jay Schroeder, Mike Buck, Stoney Case, and Dave Krieg have played quarterback for Head Coach Buddy Ryan.

• Cunningham was Dennis Green's first starting quarterback to win a post season game. Green had previously started Jim McMahon, Warren Moon, and Brad Johnson.

• Cunningham has won the NFL's Quarterback Challenge twice: 1994 and 1995, a feat also matched by Dan Marino and Jake Plummer, .

• Appeared as a free agent in Madden NFL 2003 despite being retired at the beginning of the 2002 NFL Season.

• Cunningham made an appearance on an episode of Martin, as himself. In one scene, he approaches Pam (Tichina Arnold) to dance, who responds "wait a minute, you're my favorite quarterback. Aren't you Warren Moon?" He responds, "no, I'm the other one, Randall Cunningham." (During that particular season, both he and Moon were the only African-American quarterbacks actively playing in the NFL.)

• Cunningham is mentioned in the Jay-Z song "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)in the lyric "I scramble like Randall with his-Cunningham but the only thing running is numbers fam"

• Cunningham is mentioned in the Bloodhound Gang song Yummy Down On This in the lyric "Hummin' mm-mm-good like Campbell's, and you'll handle the sack like the quarterback Randall Cunningham".

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Pro-Football-Reference.com - NFL career statistics
• More Career Stats