He was the Ultimate Weapon.
Randall Cunningham is a Philadelphia Eagles great.
He was an electric factory during his 11 seasons in Philadelphia behind center.
And while his greatest pro season may have come with the Minnesota Vikings during the 1998 campaign, he is in the Eagles Hall of Fame, not the Vikings.
That’s because Cunningham helped revolutionize the quarterback position during his time in the City of Brotherly Love.
With his rocket arm and his uncanny scrambling and rushing mobility that was foreign to the position, Cunningham turned the position on its head.
Until Cunningham came along, quarterbacks threw the ball. That was it.
Sure they could scramble a bit, a la Fran Tarkenton, but nothing like what Cunningham did.
They didn’t run.
By the time Cunningham hung up his cleats in 2001, Michael Vick entered the league and took what the Philadelphia legend started and ran with it—quite literally.
Then came Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen.
The list of QBs who got it done with their feet goes on and on.
And it can all be traced back to Cunningham.
These days, the 62-year-old can be found on a different kind of stage, under a different kind of spotlight.
Cunningham is a pastor.
After retirement, the man who earned over $30 million in his playing career, became an ordained minister.
He even served as the Las Vegas Raiders team chaplain from 2020 to 2022.
The Athletic’s Zak Keefer recently sat down with Cunningham and talked about his new calling.
“Feels like I just played a game, except my body’s not beat up,” Cunningham told Keefer of the feelings he gets when he leads a service.
“The pressure of being a quarterback and being a pastor is exactly the same.”
He is at peace with his life.
“There’s no winning or losing when you’re a pastor,” Cunningham said.
“You’ve already won.”
Not many athletes have won the city of Philadelphia over, and while it wasn’t a perfect ride, Cunningham did.
And that’s because he was as special as they come.
