Getty Josh McDaniels with Derek Carr.
Randall Cunningham thought he was making a difference as team chaplain for the Las Vegas Raiders. Those feelings weren’t exactly mutual, at least not among the leaders of the new regime out there.
Cunningham recently stepped down from his post after failing to get a call back from head coach Josh McDaniels. The legendary quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles saw the ghosting as a sign that he wasn’t wanted. The Raiders appear to be moving in a different direction, perhaps taking religion out of the locker room.
The organization hired a new head coach, new general manager, and new team president. No one phoned Cunningham, according to Chris Tomasson of TwinCities.com
“I kept calling and calling and calling, trying to contact the right officials to get the OK on what the direction was with Coach McDaniels, but it just went by, and finally I said, ‘I don’t think I’m needed here anymore,’” Cunningham told Tomasson. “He texted me one time and he said, ‘I’m looking forward to you and your involvement here. And I said, ‘Feel free to call anytime.’ And I never received a call back. And I just figured that was kind of like a sign for me it is time for me to move on.”
Cunningham was hired by then-coach Jon Gruden in 2020 to serve as a spiritual sounding board. (Ironic since Gruden was forced to resign following an unsavory email scandal). The 59-year-old is an ordained minister who founded a church called Remnant Ministries in Las Vegas in 2004.
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Cunningham Backed Gruden During Controversy
Cunningham and Gruden spent just one training camp together in Philly, way back in 1995. The Eagles were transitioning to a West Coast-style offense under Gruden, their new hot-shot offensive coordinator. Cunningham wasn’t necessarily picking it up quickly.
Gruden benched him for Rodney Peete and then Cunningham was gone. Literally. The quarterback briefly retired before reinventing himself with the Minnesota Vikings.
Two QB gurus at #EaglesCamp in ’95. Randall Cunningham in his final camp w/ the @Eagles & Jon Gruden in his 1st season as a OC. #MicdUp
But there wasn’t bad blood between Gruden and Cunningham despite their Philly divorce. Later, Gruden would attend services at Cunningham’s church in Las Vegas. And the four-time Pro Bowler backed Gruden when he was accused of sending out racist emails.
“I tell him, I said, ‘Hey, I know you as a person. I don’t believe you’re a racist in any faction of the game,'” Cunningham told Tomasson. “If anybody pulled up our records, we would all be guilty. So, I don’t condemn him nor do we as a church condemn him.”
Staying in Philadelphia Too Long
The decision to bench Cunningham in 1995 technically came down from Ray Rhodes, the first head coach hired by new owner Jeffrey Lurie. Cunningham was benched twice in the first four weeks before he minted Rodney Peete as the starter. The Eagles also signed Ty Detmer to compete for the job. Cunningham was left looking to start over at 32 years of age.
“My one regret is that I stayed in Philadelphia too long [11 seasons] and kind of let the Rich Kotite coaching era roll over me,” Cunningham told Peter King in 1996. “But I’m only 32. I’m still a franchise quarterback, with the right team.”
Former #Vikings star turned pastor Randall Cunningham looking good before a sermon this morning at his church, Remnant Ministries in Las Vegas. He won’t be able to make it, though, to the first Vikings game ever in Las Vegas this afternoon.
