January 28, 1999
MIAMI (AP) - Two years ago, Randall Cunningham was laying tile during a one-year hiatus from football. No one wanted him, and it looked like he would never play in the NFL again.
On Wednesday, he was stunned to hear his name called as the league's player of the year.
"I felt like Miss America sitting there," said the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, who helped the Vikings set an NFL scoring record and come within one victory of the Super Bowl.
"This is one of the greatest achievements I've ever received. I was losing my breath just sitting there."
Cunningham was the winner in the closest voting in the 10-year history of the award. He received 37 percent of the vote from a nationwide panel of 200 writers and broadcasters, 2 percent more than Denver running back Terrell Davis.
Earlier this month, Davis was named the league's most valuable player by The Associated Press.
Other finalists for the NFL award were Indianapolis running back Marshall Faulk and quarterbacks Doug Flutie of Buffalo, Steve Young of San Francisco and Vinny Testaverde of the New York Jets.
Cunningham, pressed into service after Brad Johnson broke his leg in Week 2, wound up NFL's top-rated passer with a 106.0 rating that ranks No. 8 in history. The 13-year veteran threw for 3,704 yards and 34 touchdowns as the Vikings became only the third team to win 15 regular season games.
The Vikings finished the season with 556 points, breaking the record of 541 set by the 1983 Washington Redskins. However, Minnesota's march to the Super Bowl was stopped by Atlanta in the NFC title game.
"It's not an empty feeling," Cunningham said. "The feeling I have is it wasn't our time. The year 2000 looks better for us. It's a year of completion. I think we'll do better next year."
Cunningham spent 11 seasons in Philadelphia, where he set an NFL career record for most rushing yards by a quarterback. But his individual efforts weren't enough to lift the Eagles past the first round of the playoffs.
He sat out the 1996 season, returning home to Las Vegas to go into tile construction. The Vikings signed him before the 1997 season, and he was content to be the backup until Johnson's injury.
"Not all that you go through is a good time, so something like this is amazing to me," Cunningham said.
In connection with the award, sponsor Miller Brewing Company will donate $30,000 to Minneapolis-based CAUSE Ministries. Cunningham has been active in the organization's Christian outreach programs for several years.
