Randall Cunningham
I think that when you get married or have other special anniversaries, you do it up the best that you can.Collection: Anniversary
I get paid to play, to win, to give the city pride, so maybe everybody can forget for a little while how hard life is.
I had gone to the scouting combine and run one of the fastest 40s for quarterbacks. Faster than some wide receivers and running backs. Had the best shuttle runs and broad jump and agilities. So when you start to slip in the draft, the anxiety takes over.
The thing is, I retired as a Philadelphia Eagle, so I would never turn my back on the Philadelphia Eagles.
The people are great people in Minnesota. I loved playing there.
My mom and dad told me not to trust anybody, because people will hurt you.
If I hadn't gone through the hardships I've gone through and been rebuked and hated by the Giant fans and the Cowboy fans and the Raider fans, I would not have been nourished in the area of maturity.
You set goals in life, and I know that I set many goals, wanted to be in the NFL.
Let me be me.
My whole thing is that if I can encourage people, I'm fulfilling part of my assignment.
More quarterbacks are hurt in the pocket than anywhere else. Who would you rather get hit by - a 295-pound defensive lineman or a 195-pound defensive back?
Philly is still home. They helped me become who I am today. They raised me as a young man by supporting me and being a father figure, and being rough at times when it was needed.
The people have always been family to me here in Las Vegas. The people have always been very, very kind to me, and it's always felt like home.
The image people have of me is that I'm hanging around with stars. But I like dirty work. This is the real me.
Hey, I'm not the typical blue-collar guy, but that doesn't mean I'm not a family man.
If I hadn't received a scholarship in football, I would have received it in track. It is actually my favorite sport.
Many sports fans, they love their team, and that's the one thing they get to cling on to when things aren't going good, is their team and when the team lets them down, it's a big letdown.
When Cris Carter didn't get into the Hall of Fame, I was completely shocked. That blew my mind.
I'm able to be a pastor now because of the strength and my mentality and integrity that was built in Philadelphia, by going through the hardship and going through the good times and that made me a man. When I went there I was just a kid and I didn't understand things.
We're all forgiven and we can mature in Christ.
The players really need someone who is going to be like a brother, a father figure - someone they can lean on and talk to outside of the organization - and that's what we had in Minnesota.
I'm so proud to see that I went through an era when it wasn't popular to be an African-American quarterback. Then, to see how things have turned around. It's not about the African-American quarterback. It's about the quarterback who has an ability to do everything.
I wasn't a sliding type of guy. I was a guy who went head-first. Not just to get the extra yard, but to get my body in a position where I couldn't get hit hard.
My favorite quarterback of all time is still Steve Young.
People would come up to me and say, 'No, this is not you. Randall Cunningham would not do this. He wouldn't be on the floor dirty and scraping a floor and carrying heavy things. He's a multimillionaire.' But that was not what God was doing in my life. He was allowing me to humble myself under his mighty hand.
Whenever you've gone through wounds and things like that, there comes a day where God heals you. And he healed me.
The most difficult thing anyone can face is losing a child. You have to focus on God. There's no other way around it.
I look back and there were some things that I was able to do that I just say, 'How did I do that?'
With a lot of negative publicity, we have to start thinking positive. When you start thinking positive, you begin to encourage. That's when you get good results.
I love working with kids. I believe in them.
To be in any Hall of Fame you have to consider how you changed your position and how you impacted your position.
It's nice to know the impact I had on the game and that someone appreciates that.
I had always considered the prospect that my children one day would ask me if I had graduated from college.
You are busy traveling during the season and it doesn't slow down in the off-season with autograph shows and football camps and Dan Marino's golf tournament and Warren Moon's golf tournament and everybody else's charity events. Then you have your family calling you, asking when you are going to come home and spend some time with them.
I would like to talk to the parents of prospective players and show them that I am an ordained minister and a graduate of UNLV and that the school is a moral place where I would send my own children.
I think it is important to parents that their children get not only a good education and play for a top athletic program but also that they get a good moral experience at the school and on the team.
You go through training camp and get pounded. Then you play the season and miss out on your family and then the government takes a lot of your money. There comes a time when you start asking yourself 'Is this actually worth it?' My family is worth much more.
I would not go play for Ray Rhodes.
You just can't play with a brand-new ball. It's virtually impossible.
You can't halfway commit to God.
If I'd never played football, I don't think I'd be the leader I am today.
I'm like a military person. If my leader tells me to do something and I pray about it and if I know it's what God wants me to do, I'll do it.
I was actually grateful to even be considered worthy to play in the NFL.
I had never played in cold weather. But then I ended up being drafted by the perfect team for me.
When I was coming up in high school, people were projecting I would make it to college and the pros. And they always told me, 'When you make it, don't forget where you came from.' I didn't understand what that meant. What it is, is to remember to give back.
I went into the league hoping to be the best ever, and I put my best foot forward to try to get there.
I was able to do great things, but in no way am I better than any of the other players that played at UNLV or even in the NFL.
I'm just grateful for the opportunity that God opened for me.
I wasn't willing to hear too much when I was a rookie.
Laying tile, carrying those heavy buckets and grinding granite was the hardest work I've ever done in my life and I learned from it.