Should Randall Cunningham be in the Hall of Fame?
By Waleo aka Wally
Well since we did a show on it, I’m going to continue the movement. How come Randall Cunningham hasn’t been included in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? It’s a freaking mystery to me. Cunningham was a trendsetter. He was an innovator in terms of the quarterback position. Off that alone, he should get some consideration. Let’s be real, if there wasn’t a Randall Cunningham there will be no Michael Vick, Daunte Culpepper, Tim Tebow, Vince Young, Donavan McNabb, Steve Young, and the late Steve McNair. Cunningham has influenced a lot of past, current and future players and yet he gets no consideration. If you look at Cunningham’s resume, you would think he was a Hall of Famer in my opinion.
While playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, Cunningham never played with all-pro talent on the offensive side of the ball. He played with a young Cris Carter for three seasons who, at the time, was going through some things back then. So it was fair to say back then Cunningham’s weapons of choice were fullback Keith Byars and tight end Keith Jackson. I just mentioned a fullback and TE to describe Cunningham’s weapons. Too Funny! Now be patient with me I’m just creating a scene or scenario. Now can you compare that cast of characters to Steve Young’s crew of Ricky Waters, Jerry Rice, Brent Jones, and John Taylor, or Aikman’s cast of Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, and Jay Novacek. Don’t forget before Steve Young became a 49er, he was a bum in Tampa Bay. Darn being around talented folks sure hides a lot of flaws. While Cunningham was given receivers like Calvin Williams, and Fred Barnett. Yeah, I know household names. Cunningham has won 3 MVPs in his career two with the Eagles and one with the Minnesota Vikings (in 1988 Bert Bell MVP Award, 1990 Bert Bell MVP Award, and Pro Football Writers Association NFL MVP Award and 1998 Newspaper Enterprise Association NFL MVP). Now compare that to some of the Hall of Famers out there at the QB position like Troy Aikman.
Aikman won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. And in my opinion he is a Hall of Famer but what makes him better than Cunningham. Let’s check out the stats. Here are Aikman’s stats: 32,942 passing yards, 61.5 completion percentage, TD-INT 165-141, and a 81.6 passer rating. Now let’s list Cunningham’s stats: 29,979 passing yards, 56.6 completion percentage, TD-INT 207-134, 81.5 passer rating, and just to throw this in 4,928 rushing yards (all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks). The difference between the two is that Cunningham was the sole threat on offense for the Philadelphia Eagles and Aikman was one of four. Cunningham was comparable to a Lebron James back then. Even with a great defense, if Cunningham wasn’t magical then the Eagles couldn’t win. Aikman could have thrown multiple interceptions but Smith could hold it down or Irvin could take a 10 yard pass and take it to the house. Cunningham wasn’t afforded with that luxury. And then the one time he is surrounded by talented players in Minnesota, with Robert Smith, Jake Reed, Randy Moss, and Cris Carter, he shattered records. At the time, Cunningham and company scored 556 points and broke the record for most points scored in the regular season. If it wasn’t for Gary Anderson that year I may not be writing this blog. You football fans know what I’m talking about. Now should Cunningham be punished for being forced to be flawless every Sunday (Philly)? I think not. Aikman didn’t have to carry a whole offense or team on his shoulders. Cunningham did. The messed up thing is a lot of analyst are saying that Kurt Warner deserves it. This dude played with Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and Marshall Faulk, and put up big numbers. Then went to The Giants who didn’t have supreme talent and he failed! Finally he ended up in Arizona and teamed up with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. That is ridiculous! Like I said earlier, playing with talented players can be misleading. But that is what happens when you have sportswriters determine the Hall of Fame. Maybe with this blog thing I can help Cunningham get in.
I’m going to start a let’s get Randall Cunningham into the Hall of Fame Movement. If you are down leave a comment or just email us at Change.da.game6@gmail.com, or tweet Peter King www.twitter.com/SI_PeterKing (SI_PeterKing) on Twitter. You can also tweet us www.twitter.com/UrbanSportScene (UrbanSportscene). Check out the Urban Sports Scene
Well since we did a show on it, I’m going to continue the movement. How come Randall Cunningham hasn’t been included in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? It’s a freaking mystery to me. Cunningham was a trendsetter. He was an innovator in terms of the quarterback position. Off that alone, he should get some consideration. Let’s be real, if there wasn’t a Randall Cunningham there will be no Michael Vick, Daunte Culpepper, Tim Tebow, Vince Young, Donavan McNabb, Steve Young, and the late Steve McNair. Cunningham has influenced a lot of past, current and future players and yet he gets no consideration. If you look at Cunningham’s resume, you would think he was a Hall of Famer in my opinion.
While playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, Cunningham never played with all-pro talent on the offensive side of the ball. He played with a young Cris Carter for three seasons who, at the time, was going through some things back then. So it was fair to say back then Cunningham’s weapons of choice were fullback Keith Byars and tight end Keith Jackson. I just mentioned a fullback and TE to describe Cunningham’s weapons. Too Funny! Now be patient with me I’m just creating a scene or scenario. Now can you compare that cast of characters to Steve Young’s crew of Ricky Waters, Jerry Rice, Brent Jones, and John Taylor, or Aikman’s cast of Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, and Jay Novacek. Don’t forget before Steve Young became a 49er, he was a bum in Tampa Bay. Darn being around talented folks sure hides a lot of flaws. While Cunningham was given receivers like Calvin Williams, and Fred Barnett. Yeah, I know household names. Cunningham has won 3 MVPs in his career two with the Eagles and one with the Minnesota Vikings (in 1988 Bert Bell MVP Award, 1990 Bert Bell MVP Award, and Pro Football Writers Association NFL MVP Award and 1998 Newspaper Enterprise Association NFL MVP). Now compare that to some of the Hall of Famers out there at the QB position like Troy Aikman.
Aikman won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. And in my opinion he is a Hall of Famer but what makes him better than Cunningham. Let’s check out the stats. Here are Aikman’s stats: 32,942 passing yards, 61.5 completion percentage, TD-INT 165-141, and a 81.6 passer rating. Now let’s list Cunningham’s stats: 29,979 passing yards, 56.6 completion percentage, TD-INT 207-134, 81.5 passer rating, and just to throw this in 4,928 rushing yards (all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks). The difference between the two is that Cunningham was the sole threat on offense for the Philadelphia Eagles and Aikman was one of four. Cunningham was comparable to a Lebron James back then. Even with a great defense, if Cunningham wasn’t magical then the Eagles couldn’t win. Aikman could have thrown multiple interceptions but Smith could hold it down or Irvin could take a 10 yard pass and take it to the house. Cunningham wasn’t afforded with that luxury. And then the one time he is surrounded by talented players in Minnesota, with Robert Smith, Jake Reed, Randy Moss, and Cris Carter, he shattered records. At the time, Cunningham and company scored 556 points and broke the record for most points scored in the regular season. If it wasn’t for Gary Anderson that year I may not be writing this blog. You football fans know what I’m talking about. Now should Cunningham be punished for being forced to be flawless every Sunday (Philly)? I think not. Aikman didn’t have to carry a whole offense or team on his shoulders. Cunningham did. The messed up thing is a lot of analyst are saying that Kurt Warner deserves it. This dude played with Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and Marshall Faulk, and put up big numbers. Then went to The Giants who didn’t have supreme talent and he failed! Finally he ended up in Arizona and teamed up with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. That is ridiculous! Like I said earlier, playing with talented players can be misleading. But that is what happens when you have sportswriters determine the Hall of Fame. Maybe with this blog thing I can help Cunningham get in.
I’m going to start a let’s get Randall Cunningham into the Hall of Fame Movement. If you are down leave a comment or just email us at Change.da.game6@gmail.com, or tweet Peter King www.twitter.com/SI_PeterKing (SI_PeterKing) on Twitter. You can also tweet us www.twitter.com/UrbanSportScene (UrbanSportscene). Check out the Urban Sports Scene
Comments
Post a Comment