Quarterback, Minnesota
Vikings
Age: 35
13th
season in pro football, 2nd with Vikings
College: Nevada – Las
Vegas
Height: 6’4” Weight: 205
Prelude:
Taken by the
Eagles in the 2nd round of the 1985 NFL draft, Cunningham saw some action
in place of veteran QB Ron Jaworski, and while he completed only 42 % of his
passes, he showed off his exciting running ability. In ’86, under new Head
Coach Buddy Ryan, he saw more action in place of Jaworski and took over as the
starting quarterback during the strike-interrupted 1987 season. Cunningham
threw for 2786 yards and 23 TDs in 12 games and also rushed for 505 yards. He
followed up with a 1988 season in which he set a new club record with 3808
passing yards and rushed for 624 yards as the Eagles won the NFC East.
Cunningham had another Pro Bowl year in 1989, but the Eagles again lost in the
first round of the playoffs. An outstanding talent who could often improvise
brilliantly, Cunningham was less adept at reading defenses and often irritated
teammates with his demeanor. He was outstanding during a 1990 season in which
he threw for 3466 yards and 30 TDs while rushing for 942 yards, garnering a
second Bert Bell Award and going to the Pro Bowl for the third straight year, but
was lost to a season-ending injury in the first game of 1991 and, while he
successfully returned in ’92, injuries became more of an issue as he missed
most of 1993 with a broken leg. Benched in favor of Rodney Peete in ’95, Cunningham
sat out a year in retirement before returning as a backup with the Vikings in
1997. When QB Brad Johnson was injured early in ’98, he moved into the starting
lineup.
1998 season summary
Appeared in 15
of 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Pass attempts
– 425 [11]
Most
attempts, game – 55 at Baltimore 12/13
Pass
completions – 259 [9, tied with Vinny Testaverde]
Most
completions, game – 32 at Baltimore 12/13
Passing yards
– 3704 [5]
Most yards,
game – 442 at Green Bay 10/5
Completion
percentage – 60.9 [6]
Yards per
attempt – 8.7 [2]
TD passes – 34
[2]
Most TD
passes, game – 4 at Chicago 9/27, at Green Bay 10/5, at Dallas 11/26, vs.
Chicago 12/6
Interceptions
– 10 [20, tied with John Elway, Steve McNair & Danny Kanell]
Most
interceptions, game – 2 at Detroit 10/25, vs. Cincinnati 11/15
Passer rating
– 106.0 [1]
400-yard
passing games – 1
300-yard
passing games – 4
200-yard
passing games – 12
Rushing
Attempts – 32
Most
attempts, game - 5 (for 6 yds.) at Chicago 9/27
Yards – 132
Most yards,
game – 22 yards (on 1 carry) vs. Jacksonville 12/20
Yards per
attempt – 4.1
TDs – 1
Pass
Receiving
Receptions –
1
Yards – -3
Yards per
catch – -3.0
TDs - 0
Scoring
TDs – 1
2-pt PAT – 1
Points – 8
Postseason: 2
G
Pass attempts
– 75
Most
attempts, game - 48 vs. Atlanta, NFC Championship
Pass
completions – 46
Most
completions, game - 29 vs. Atlanta, NFC Championship
Passing
yardage – 502
Most yards,
game - 266 vs. Atlanta, NFC Championship
TD passes – 5
Most TD
passes, game - 3 vs. Arizona, NFC Divisional playoff
Interceptions
– 1
Most
interceptions, game - 1 vs. Arizona, NFC Divisional playoff
Rushing
attempts – 9
Most rushing
attempts, game - 6 vs. Atlanta, NFC Championship
Rushing yards
– 19
Most rushing
yards, game - 13 vs. Atlanta, NFC Championship
Average gain
rushing – 2.1
Rushing TDs –
1
Awards & Honors:
NFL MVP: NEA,
Bert Bell Award
1st
team All-NFL: AP, PFWA
1st
team All-NFC: Pro Football Weekly
Pro Bowl
Vikings went 15-1
to finish first in the NFC Central with the conference’s best record while
leading the NFL in passing yards (4328), scoring (556 points), and touchdowns
(64). Won NFC Divisional playoff over Arizona Cardinals (41-21). Defeated for
NFC Championship by Atlanta Falcons (30-27).
Aftermath:
Cunningham
played in just six games in 1999 and finished up his career for good following
a year each in Dallas and Baltimore. In the end, he passed for 29,979 yards and
207 TDs, was the career rushing leader for quarterbacks (4928 yards) at the
time of his retirement, and had the best rushing average (6.4) of any player in
NFL history with over 750 carries (775).
--
MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or
Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or
USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football
Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press
International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league
itself).
