Randall Cunningham - NFL Legend
American Football hero
In Santa Barbara, California, on March 27, 1963, former American football quarterback Randall W. Cunningham was born. In 1981, his senior year at Santa Barbara High School, Randall Cunningham led the team to not only a title in the League, but the CIF Finals as well.
In the second round of the NFL Draft in 1985, the Philadelphia Eagles picked Cunningham, who had also been sought after by the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandit the same season.
During his first season as Ron Jaworski's back up, he only completed thirty-four percent of the passes and only threw one touch down with eight interceptions. However, Randall Cunningham drew attention to himself with his supernatural scrambling skills.
In Week 10 of the 1986 season Ron Jaworski injured his hand, leaving Cunningham as the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. He took over the position completely for the next season. Randall Cunningham achieved exclusive status in 1988, throwing for more than 400 yards at the "Fog Bowl".
Cunningham's extraordinary exploitation of athleticism was most notable against the New York Giants in a Monday Night Football game in 1988. As the linebacker for the Giants, Carl Banks, charged into the Philadelphia quarterback, Cunningham twisted in the air balanced on the ground with one hand, regained his balance and passed the ball to the Eagles' tight end Jimmie Giles scoring the touchdown.
The next season, in a crucial game against the New York Giants, broke open a punt that was 91 yards on a third down clinch. New York was not prepared for the remarkable punt and it bounced over 24 yards having traveled in the air for 67 yards. It was the fourth-longest among punts in the NFL as of 2007.
Another bright moment in the career of Randall Cunningham came in 1990 facing the Buffalo Bills. Cunningham was in the end zone seconds from being blindsided by Bills' Bruce Smith, he ducked to avoid the tackle and while balancing on one foot, threw the ball for a 60-yard pass to Eagles' wide receiver Fred Barnett. The result was a remarkable touchdown of 95 yards for Philadelphia. That year Randall Cunningham ended the season with an astounding 942 rushing yard.
After skipping the 1996 football season, Randall Cunningham joined forces with the Minnesota Vikings. His first year on the team, he pulled off two late drives, defeating the New York Giants.
In 1998, Cunningham had his best season leading the Minnesota Vikings to a regular season record of 15 - 1 passing 34 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions.
In his last ten seasons in the league, Cunningham only played 80 games, finishing his career with 204 touchdowns, having completed 2,429 of 4,289 attempts on 29,997 yards with only 134 interceptions. He was the second-most sacked quarterback of all time with 484 times. Cunningham had 35 touchdowns and 4,928 rushing yards and 775 carries. After the season in 2001, Randall Cunningham retired as the all-time leading quarterback in carries and rushing yards. He is in a fourth place tie in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
After he retired from the NFL, Cunningham went back to college and finished his degree. Randall Cunningham also has been in the business of Gospel music, opened a recording studio, and produces a Christian rap group by the name of "Humility". He is a born again Christian as well as an ordained Protestant minister. In 2004, the founded the Remnant Ministries church in Las Vegas.
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