Dec. 7, 2016 LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Former UNLV All-America punter, quarterback great and longtime Las Vegas resident Randall Cunningham became the first player in school history to be inducted into the prestigious College Football Hall of Fame during ceremonies held in New York City Tuesday evening.
UNLV Director of Athletics Tina Kunzer-Murphy and Deputy AD Darryl Seibel were on hand for the occasion, which was held at the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
The 2016 class was introduced by National Football Foundation board members Archie Griffin, a Hall of Fame running back from Ohio State, and Grant Teaff, AFCA Executive Director and Hall of Fame Coach. Joining Cunningham in the class were Marlin Briscoe (Nebraska Omaha), Derrick Brooks (Florida State), Tom Cousineau (Ohio State), Troy Davis (Iowa State), William Fuller (North Carolina), Bert Jones (LSU), Tim Krumrie (Wisconsin), Pat McInally (Harvard), Herb Orvis (Colorado), Bill Royce (Ashland [Ohio]), Mike Utley (Washington State), Scott Woerner (Georgia), Rod Woodson (Purdue) and coaches Bill Bowes (New Hampshire) and Frank Girardi (Lycoming [Pa.]). NFF Chairman and Hall of Fame inductee Archie Manning (Mississippi) conducted the Official Hall of Fame Ring Ceremony.
The 14 players and two coaches bring the total number of players in the Hall of Fame to 977 and the number of coaches in the Hall to 211. Cunningham, who finished his career as UNLV's leader in both career passing and punting, delivered the response on behalf of the class and touched on the journey of the inductees.
"When we start off playing Pop Warner, we play and we just want to be a starter," said Cunningham. "We go to the next level, we go into high school, and then we want to be a starter again and all-conference. The next thing you know, we get an opportunity to play in college...and the next thing you know we're recruited to a major D-I university...Then we set higher goals to make it to the NFL.
"By the time we've played five, 10, 15 years, we've played for a few different teams and then we're retiring and riding off into the sunset...Then there comes a time when you receive a phone call saying they want to put you in the College Football Hall of Fame. I am so grateful tonight on behalf of all the inductees tonight...It's about a group of people who they said were good enough that we want to put you in the Hall of Fame."
Cunningham joined the legendary John Robinson, who became the first former UNLV head coach (1999-2004) inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Randall also joined his older brother, former USC running back Sam Cunningham, who was inducted in 2010.
To be eligible for the ballot, players must have been named First Team All-America by a major/national selector as recognized and utilized by the NCAA for their consensus All-America teams, played their last year of intercollegiate football at least 10 years prior, played within the last 50 years and cannot be currently playing professional football. Of the 5.12 million individuals who have played college football since the first recognized game in 1869, only 963 players and 209 coaches have been immortalized in the Hall (two one-hundreths of one percent -- .02).
While an offensive force on the field, Cunningham earned All-America honors primarily as a punter. The native of Santa Barbara, Calif., did not start kicking until the middle of his sophomore season at UNLV and fell just eight career attempts short of the NCAA minimum for records for career punting statistics. If he had punted just eight more times, he would have recorded the second-best career punting average in college history at the time for 150 minimum attempts. He is also the only Rebel to post three punts of 70 yards or longer.
Cunningham set 18 individual school records and finished his collegiate career by leading the Rebels to their first-ever bowl-game appearance -- a 30-13 victory over Toledo in the 1984 California Bowl.
The first quarterback selected in the 1985 NFL Draft when he went No. 37 overall to the Philadelphia Eagles, Cunningham went on to turn in a hall-of-fame-level professional career. A four-time Pro Bowl invitee, he was a three-time winner of the Bert Bell Award, which annually goes to the league's top player, and was named the 1998 NFL Offensive Player of the Year while with the Minnesota Vikings. Cunningham, who was inducted into the UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997, later returned to campus to complete his classwork and earned his bachelor's degree from UNLV's Harrah College of Hotel Administration in December of 2004. Cunningham, who wore No. 12 for the Scarlet & Gray, remains the school's only football player to have his jersey retired.
CUNNINGHAM'S UNLV CAREER PUNTING STATISTICSYEAR ATT YARDS AVG LONG1984 59 2,803 47.5 721983 56 2,435 43.5 731982 27 1,233 45.7 68TOTAL 142 6,471 45.6 73
CUNNINGHAM'S UNLV CAREER PASSING STATISTICSYEAR ATT COMP INT PCT YARDS TD1984 332 207 10 62.4 2,628 241983 316 189 8 59.8 2,545 181982 381 200 12 52.5 2,847 17TOTAL 1,029 594 30 58.0 8,020 59
CUNNINGHAM'S HONORSAFCA (KODAK) First Team All-America in 1983 as a punterAP Second Team All-America in 1983 as a punterAP Second Team All-America in 1984 as a punterAP Honorable Mention All-America as a quarterbackPlayed in 1984 Japan Bowl and East-West Shrine Classic1983 PCAA Offensive Player of the Year1984 PCAA Offensive Player of the YearFirst Team All-PCAA as both a punter and quarterback in 1983 and 1984First Team All-PCAA as a punter in 1982Four-time Conference Player of the Week honoreeThe single-season and career punting leader for the PCAAFirst quarterback selected in the 1985 NFL Draft (No. 37 overall to Philadelphia)
UNLV RECORDS STILL HELD BY RANDALL CUNNINGHAM (13)CATEGORY: RECORDCareer Pass Attempts: 1,029Career Pass Completions: 596Passing Yards in a Career: 8,020Passing Yards Per Game in a Career: 243.0Games Passing for 200 Yards or More in a Career: 24Touchdown Passes in a Career: 59Total Offensive Attempts in a Career : 1,340Total Offensive Yards in a Career: 8,224Consecutive Starts by a Quarterback: 34Punting Average in a Game: 58.0 vs. UNR in 1983Punting Average in a Season : 47.5 in 1984Punting Average in a Career : 45.6Consecutive Games with a 40-Yard Punting Average: 13 (tied with one other)
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAMEFounded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl"Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power ofamateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people.With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include FootballMatters.org, theCollege Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Fidelity Investments, annual scholarships of more than $1.3 million and a series of initiatives to honor thelegends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, Hofmann Brands, New York Athletic Club, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, PrimeSport, the Sports Business Journal, Under Armour and VICIS. Learn more atwww.footballfoundation.org.
