Randall Cunningham

[nilan30]

I was just watching some football highlights and they were talking about scrambling QB's and it just sorta reminded me how good RC was. I was just wondering what you people thought about him. I personally believe he could have been one of the all time greats with a little better coaching in his younger days. He was a pretty amazing talent who had probably one of the strongest arms, was blazing fast and I even saw him lay down a punt of about 85-90 yards one time. Sure I'm probably biased as he was my alltime favorite player and the reason I cheer for Philly. I think he really played his best when he was playing for Minny wih Moss, Carter and Reed. And I was absolutely crushed when he played for Dallas. Anyways I'm rambling big time here and like I said I'm just interested in your thoughts on him. How good was he? How good could he have been? Or, am i giving him too much credit?

[Gygax]

I thought Randall was excellent. He pulled off one of the most athletic feats I've seen in the NFL when he got nailed by Carl Banks along the sidelines, went completely horizontal, but still managed to stay on his feet by putting a single hand down, and dove in for the touchdown. What a great play! He was a Giant killer. That punt was also against the G-men. I think his only real deficiency was his throwing motion was very long and gave defenders a chance to read his throws. But he certainly had great arm strength. Never really won the big one, a definite mark against him considering some of the dynamite defenses the Eagles had during that time.

Here is an interesting article saying RC belongs in the Hall of Fame. While I don't really agree, the author makes a pretty compelling argument through stats against other peers of his who are in the HOF.

Randall Cunningham belongs in the HOF

[AvsFanatic]

I myself kind of consider RC the "Vick" of his era. Was def. an all around great athlete, which helped him do many things on the field.

That being said, he never had great winning success and seemed to play for alot of mediocre (with-out checking the actual stats) teams. But he was a threat to make something happen on any given play, fun to watch.

[knucklesamwitch]

Have always been a fan of his and consider him one of the most exciting players in NFL history.

[Yoke]

I only saw him when he was in Minnesota, and he was about 78, so I haven't gotten to see much of him when he was at his most agile. I have seen his highlights though, and he was a great runner, and I think is really the guy that brought this type of quarterback to popularity.

[Travis24]

The coach who was developing him when he first came to the Eagles died (I do not remember the name), and Buddy Ryan never gave him any coaching or an offensive line. Had Randall had good coaching and an offense that was 1/2 as good as Buddy's defenses, he would have been a sure HOF'er. Buddy used to tell him literally to run around until you can make a play. I argue that he should have been in the Hall, but only if he had won the Super Bowl with Minnesota.

[jayc948]

Without Randall there would be no Michael Vick. He was the first real scrambling qb ever who had any success. He was an all-around talent. Like Nilan said he did once lay down a punt of 85+ yards and was penciled in as the Eagles backup punter and kicker on the depth chart as one time.

As far as Randall going into the Hall of Fame, I absolutely think he should be in there. His stats are remarkable and they pair up to some current and future Hall of Famers in Troy Aikman and Jim Kelly. Cunningham holds the single season rushing record for a quarterback (942 yds) and his stats are remarkable. Its a shame that his consideration level is low because he did not win a championship.

[Gygax]

Originally Posted by jayc948

Without Randall there would be no Michael Vick. He was the first real scrambling qb ever who had any success.....

Never saw Fran Tarkenton play, have you?

As far as Randall going into the Hall of Fame, I absolutely think he should be in there. His stats are remarkable and they pair up to some current and future Hall of Famers in Troy Aikman and Jim Kelly. Cunningham holds the single season rushing record for a quarterback (942 yds) and his stats are remarkable. Its a shame that his consideration level is low because he did not win a championship.

He had an absolutely dominant defense during those years he was most successful, 88-93, yet still did not manage to get them through the big game. In the biggest spots RC came up very short. Its not just that he didn't win a championship, he never even got his team to the Super Bowl.

Like Travis said, having Buddy Ryan as coach really hurt his chances as Buddy could care less about the offense. But when the Eagles needed him to come up the biggest, in the playoffs, Randall just did not get it done. Like others have attested, he came closer to being in the Super Bowl with the Vikes than the Eagles with that great defense. Randall's years that he is known for are as an Eagle and I believe they never made the NFC Championship game with him at the helm.

I really liked him as a player and as a person, but I don't feel he was HOF material. Aikman and Kelly do have similar stats, but Troy won multiple SB and Kelly at least got his team to the big show a bunch of times. Each played a similar amount of games (@160), but Troy and Jim both did that in 11 seasons while Randall took 17 years to do this. This shows he was somewhat injury prone as well as being basically a journeyman QB the last few years of his career.

Cunningham 161G, 56.6comp%, 29,979yds, 207TDs, 81.5rating, 17 seasons, 1 NFC Championship Appearance
Aikman 165G, 61.5comp%, 32,942yds, 165TDs, 81.6rating, 11 seasons, 3 Super Bowl Wins,
Kelly 160G, 60.1comp%, 35,467yds, 237TDs, 84.4rating, 3 AFC Championships

[Travis24]

He only won one playoff game as an Eagle, that was against the Saints.
I think he was able to rely on natural ability to win in the regular season, but when defenses got really tough in the playoffs, he needed a coach with a gameplan that could get him through. Unfortunately he never had that coach in Philly. If he was properly coached he was a shoe-in for the HOF.
Also like I said, if he wins the Bowl while with the Vikings he is a HOFer. He didn't, so he's not. His numbers are close, his overall sucess and leadership are not. BTW, all of the Eagles teams he played on were led (meaning the intangible team leader type of thing) by defensive players like Reggie, Wes Hopkins, Seth Joyner, etc., so you can't even give him that he was the leader of those Eagle teams.

[jayc948]

Originally Posted by gygax

Never saw Fran Tarkenton play, have you?

Never knew Tarkenton was a scrambling qb, but now after looking at his stats and seeing some clips, I agree

[Travis24]

No doubt Jayc948, Tarkenton was the original. Randall was a better scrambler IMO because of his athleticism, but Tarkenton was a ton of fun to watch and definitely the first to run around like that. Fran was a bit before my day, but his clips are unbelievable and he did get to several Super Bowls.

[The Reaper]

Fran was better at looking to throw with his scrambling. Randall scrambled to run downfield. As far as Cunningham's talent goes, until Vick came along he was the best I've ever seen as far as natural talent of his type.(Scrambling QB) However, his biggest problem was not playing under coaches who couldn't utilize his talents. (that is the 2nd biggest). His biggest problem was the space occupied between his ears. Dude was a flake, plain and simple.