November 4, 2013

MVP Profile: Randall Cunningham, 1998

Quarterback, Minnesota Vikings



Age:  35
13th season in pro football, 2nd with Vikings
College: NevadaLas 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).

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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). 

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