Editing (section) Randall Cunningham 0 You are not logged in. The rich text editor does not work with JavaScript switched off. Please either enable it in your browser options, or visit your preferences to switch to the old MediaWiki editor <h3>Minnesota Vikings</h3> <p data-rte-fromparser="true">Cunningham joined the Vikings in 1997 after being out of football in 1996. Vikings' coach <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Dennis%20Green%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Dennis%20Green%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BDennis%20Green%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Dennis_Green" title="Dennis Green">Dennis Green</a> called him when he was on a job site for his granite business. There he reunited with former Eagles wide receiver <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Cris%20Carter%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Cris%20Carter%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BCris%20Carter%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Cris_Carter" title="Cris Carter">Cris Carter</a>. In his first year with the Vikings, he orchestrated two late scoring drives to bring them back from a 9-point deficit to defeat the <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22New%20York%20Giants%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22New%20York%20Giants%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BNew%20York%20Giants%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/New_York_Giants" title="New York Giants">New York Giants</a> in an <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22NFC%20Wild%20Card%20game%22%2C%22link%22%3A%221997%5Cu201398%20NFL%20playoffs%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5B1997%5Cu201398%20NFL%20playoffs%7CNFC%20Wild%20Card%20game%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/1997%E2%80%9398_NFL_playoffs" title="1997–98 NFL playoffs">NFC Wild Card game</a> at <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Giants%20Stadium%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Giants%20Stadium%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BGiants%20Stadium%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Giants_Stadium" title="Giants Stadium">Giants Stadium</a>, 23–22. However, the Vikings lost in the Divisional Round to <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Steve%20Young%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Steve%20Young%20%28American%20football%29%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BSteve%20Young%20%28American%20football%29%7CSteve%20Young%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Steve_Young_(American_football)" title="Steve Young (American football)">Steve Young</a> and the <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22San%20Francisco%2049ers%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22San%20Francisco%2049ers%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BSan%20Francisco%2049ers%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/San_Francisco_49ers" title="San Francisco 49ers">San Francisco 49ers</a>. </p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Cunningham enjoyed the greatest season of his career in Minnesota <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22during%20the%201998%20campaign%22%2C%22link%22%3A%221998%20Minnesota%20Vikings%20season%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5B1998%20Minnesota%20Vikings%20season%7Cduring%20the%201998%20campaign%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/1998_Minnesota_Vikings_season" title="1998 Minnesota Vikings season">during the 1998 campaign</a> when he guided the Vikings to a 15–1 regular season record with 34 touchdown passes, only 10 interceptions, and 3,704 passing yards. Cunningham had a good supporting cast that year with <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Cris%20Carter%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Cris%20Carter%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BCris%20Carter%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Cris_Carter" title="Cris Carter">Cris Carter</a>, rookie <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Randy%20Moss%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Randy%20Moss%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BRandy%20Moss%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Randy_Moss" title="Randy Moss">Randy Moss</a>, and <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Jake%20Reed%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Jake%20Reed%20%28American%20football%29%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BJake%20Reed%20%28American%20football%29%7CJake%20Reed%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" class="new" title="Jake Reed (American football) (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvSmFrZV9SZWVkXyhBbWVyaWNhbl9mb290YmFsbCk/YWN0aW9uPWVkaXQmcmVkbGluaz0x">Jake Reed</a> at wide receiver and <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Robert%20Smith%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Robert%20Smith%20%28football%20player%29%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BRobert%20Smith%20%28football%20player%29%7CRobert%20Smith%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" class="new" title="Robert Smith (football player) (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvUm9iZXJ0X1NtaXRoXyhmb290YmFsbF9wbGF5ZXIpP2FjdGlvbj1lZGl0JnJlZGxpbms9MQ==">Robert Smith</a> and <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Leroy%20Hoard%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Leroy%20Hoard%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BLeroy%20Hoard%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Leroy_Hoard" title="Leroy Hoard">Leroy Hoard</a> at running back. Cunningham led the league with a 106.0 passer rating while the Vikings scored a then-NFL record 556 points during the 1998 season, making him the first black quarterback to lead the league in that category.<span class="placeholder placeholder-double-brackets" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22double-brackets%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%7B%7Bcitation%20needed%7Cdate%3DFebruary%202017%7D%7D%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22citation%20needed%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%7D" contenteditable="false">​​</span> Cunningham claimed the Vikings' Monday night 37–24 victory over the <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Green%20Bay%20Packers%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Green%20Bay%20Packers%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BGreen%20Bay%20Packers%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers" title="Green Bay Packers">Green Bay Packers</a> was "the greatest night of my football career".<span data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cref%3E%7B%7Bcite%20news%7Clast1%3DFreeman%7Cfirst1%3DMike%7Ctitle%3DPRO%20FOOTBALL%3B%20Big%20Plays%2C%20Big%20Victory%20For%20Vikings%7Curl%3Dhttps%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fwww.nytimes.com%5C%2F1998%5C%2F10%5C%2F06%5C%2Fsports%5C%2Fpro-football-big-plays-big-victory-for-vikings.html%7Caccessdate%3DFebruary%2020%2C%202017%7Cwork%3DThe%20New%20York%20Times%7Cdate%3DOctober%206%2C%201998%7D%7D%3C%5C%2Fref%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22ref%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false"><sup data-rte-washtml="1" id="cite_ref-0" class="reference" data-rte-attribs=" id=cite_ref-0 class=reference"><a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%3Cspan%20data-rte-instance%3D%5C%2224816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b%5C%22%20data-rte-meta%3D%5C%22%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522ext%2522%252C%2522wikitext%2522%253A%2522%253Cnowiki%253E%255B%253C%255C%252Fnowiki%253E%2522%252C%2522lineStart%2522%253A%2522%2522%252C%2522placeholder%2522%253A1%252C%2522extName%2522%253A%2522nowiki%2522%257D%5C%22%20class%3D%5C%22placeholder%20placeholder-ext%5C%22%20contenteditable%3D%5C%22false%5C%22%3E%7F%27%5C%22%60UNIQ19a6502c64b03a6f-nowiki-00000002-QINU%60%5C%22%27%7F%26%23x0200B%3B%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E1%3Cspan%20data-rte-instance%3D%5C%2224816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b%5C%22%20data-rte-meta%3D%5C%22%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522ext%2522%252C%2522wikitext%2522%253A%2522%253Cnowiki%253E%255D%253C%255C%252Fnowiki%253E%2522%252C%2522lineStart%2522%253A%2522%2522%252C%2522placeholder%2522%253A1%252C%2522extName%2522%253A%2522nowiki%2522%257D%5C%22%20class%3D%5C%22placeholder%20placeholder-ext%5C%22%20contenteditable%3D%5C%22false%5C%22%3E%7F%27%5C%22%60UNIQ19a6502c64b03a6f-nowiki-00000003-QINU%60%5C%22%27%7F%26%23x0200B%3B%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22%23cite_note-0%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5B%23cite_note-0%7C%3Cext%20_rte_wikitextidx%3D%5C%2227%5C%22%3E%3Cname%3Enowiki%3C%5C%2Fname%3E%3Cattr%3E%3C%5C%2Fattr%3E%3Cinner%3E%5B%3C%5C%2Finner%3E%3Cclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%3C%5C%2Fclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fext%3E1%3Cext%20_rte_wikitextidx%3D%5C%2228%5C%22%3E%3Cname%3Enowiki%3C%5C%2Fname%3E%3Cattr%3E%3C%5C%2Fattr%3E%3Cinner%3E%5D%3C%5C%2Finner%3E%3Cclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%3C%5C%2Fclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fext%3E%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="#cite_note-0"><span data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cnowiki%3E%5B%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22nowiki%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false">[​</span>1<span data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cnowiki%3E%5D%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22nowiki%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false">]​</span></a></sup>​</span> He threw for 442 yards and four touchdowns. However, the Vikings ended up being the first 15–1 team to fall short of the Super Bowl, losing to the underdog <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Atlanta%20Falcons%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Atlanta%20Falcons%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BAtlanta%20Falcons%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Atlanta_Falcons" title="Atlanta Falcons">Atlanta Falcons</a> in the conference championship game by a field goal. </p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">During the early stages of the 1999 season, after throwing nine interceptions in just six games, Cunningham was benched again, this time in favor of <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Jeff%20George%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Jeff%20George%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BJeff%20George%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Jeff_George" title="Jeff George">Jeff George</a>. After the team announced that second-year quarterback <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Daunte%20Culpepper%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Daunte%20Culpepper%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BDaunte%20Culpepper%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="24816-7971380445de92ac4a6f0b" href="/wiki/Daunte_Culpepper" title="Daunte Culpepper">Daunte Culpepper</a> would be the starter prior to the 2000 season, Cunningham was released. </p> <br /><strong data-rte-washtml="1" class="error" data-rte-attribs=" class=error">Cite error: <code data-rte-washtml="1"><ref></code> tags exist, but no <code data-rte-washtml="1"><references/></code> tag was found</strong><p /> <!-- Saved in parser cache with key footbal:rte-parser-cache:16937 --> Loading editor Below are some commonly used wiki markup codes. Simply click on what you want to use and it will appear in the edit box above. 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