Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #22 - Randall Cunningham

Randall Cunningham

Randall Cunningham had a 16-year NFL career, but an assortment of injuries kept him out of the lineup quite often, and he only ended up spending 7 seasons as a full-time starter. He started out as a 2nd-round pick in 1985, and spent his first two seasons backing up Ron Jaworski.

In just his second season as a starting QB, he made history as the first black quarterback ever to be named a starting quarterback in the Pro Bowl. That season he threw for 3808 yards, his career high, and also tossed 24 touchdowns while running for another 6. The Eagles made the playoffs that season, but would fail to win a playoff game, which was a pattern throughout his Eagles tenure.

He was just as stellar over the next two seasons, making two more Pro Bowls while keeping up the same level of production, reaching 30 touchdown passes for the first time in 1990. That year he also ran for 942 yards, but lost in his first playoff game for the third straight year as well.

1991 was the first time that a major injury would hit Cunningham, when he tore his ACL while being tackled in the first game of the season. Without him, the Eagles missed the playoffs, but he would return healthy the next year. Although he wasn't able to match his previous production in his first year back, he did get Philly back to the playoffs, where they won a game for the first time in 12 years.

He spent much of the following season sitting out due to injury, with the Eagles going 4-0 when he played and 4-8 when he didn't. The next season he played through a series of minor injuries, and it was the first time in years that the Eagles missed the playoffs with Cunningham at the helm. That failure led to his benching in 1995, and he decided to retire at the end of the season, feeling unappreciated.

After one season away from the game, the Minnesota Vikings talked him out of retirement, and he spent most of 1997 as a backup, but took over as the starter late in the season and took them to an upset of the Giants in the wild card round. The next season he was named the full-time starter for Minnesota, and it led to the best season of his career.

That season he threw for 3704 yards, just short of a career high, and 34 touchdowns, the best he had ever done. Even more importantly, he led Minnesota to a 15-1 overall record, and the team scored what was then a record 556 points during the regular season. They won their first playoff game, but were upset by Atlanta in the NFC title game when the Falcons scored a touchdown late in regulation, then hit a field goal in overtime to finish them off.

He was unable to repeat the performance the following season, getting benched after throwing 9 picks in the first 6 games, and he would spend the final 3 seasons of his career as a backup. He only made one trip to the conference title game, but he was a consistent Pro Bowler, one of the best running quarterbacks of his era, and locked up this spot in the rankings after his amazing comeback with the Vikings.