A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Cunningham is fourth in NFL quarterback rushing yards, which he led at the time of his retirement.

Upon retiring a second and final time, Cunningham became an ordained Protestant minister and served as the team chaplain for the Las Vegas Raiders from 2020 to 2022.

[2] He also competed in track and field at SBHS in the high jump; his elder brother Frank was the state champion in the shot put.

In his rookie season he played sparingly as a backup to veteran Ron Jaworski but made a big splash with his uncanny scrambling ability, though he completed just 34 percent of his passes and threw just one touchdown against eight interceptions.

At the quarterback position, Ryan designated 35-year-old Ron Jaworski the starter but would replace the veteran with the fleet-footed Cunningham in third-and-long situations where the latter's scrambling would presumably put the defense on its heels.

In 1989, on October 2 Cunningham also set the regular season franchise record with 62 pass attempts (now shared with Nick Foles), also against the Chicago Bears.

He had been an all-conference quarterback and punter while at UNLV, and unleashed a 91-yard punt against the Giants on December 3, the longest in Eagles history (and the fourth-longest ever).

[7] In a 1990 game against the Buffalo Bills, Cunningham, throwing from his end zone, was about to be sacked by Bruce Smith from his blind side.

That same year, Cunningham finished with 942 rushing yards, the 2nd most ever for a quarterback at the time(Just 26yds short of the all-time record, set by Bobby Douglass in 1972) and 10th best in the league.

The 1993 and 1994 seasons would be riddled by a series of nagging injuries and a transition to the West Coast Offense that eventually led to his benching in favor of veteran Rodney Peete.

Feeling as if the fans and organization did not fully appreciate his contributions to the team's success, as well as being unhappy with his role as a back-up, Cunningham retired from football after the 1995 season.

[9] He left Philadelphia with the third-most rushing yards in Eagles history (4,482), trailing Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren and Wilbert Montgomery, but has since fallen to sixth after Duce Staley, Brian Westbrook, and LeSean McCoy all surpassed him.

Cunningham had a good supporting cast that year with Cris Carter, rookie Randy Moss, and Jake Reed at wide receiver and Robert Smith and Leroy Hoard at running back.

However, the Vikings ended up being the first 15–1 team to fall short of the Super Bowl, losing to the underdog Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game by a field goal in overtime.

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 Jeff George.

[16] Cunningham was originally intended to serve as the third-string quarterback, but he was named the backup behind Elvis Grbac after performing better than Chris Redman.

[17] In his final 10 NFL seasons, Cunningham played in only 80 games, but finished his 16-year career completing 2,429 of his 4,289 attempts for 29,979 yards and 207 touchdowns, with 134 interceptions.

Cunningham, a born again Christian, became an ordained Protestant minister and founded a church called Remnant Ministries in Las Vegas in 2004.

[20] On June 29, 2010, one of Cunningham's children, two-year-old son Christian, drowned in a hot tub while unattended at the family home in Las Vegas.

[30] His daughter, Vashti Cunningham, is a track and field athlete who competed in the high jump at the 2020 Summer Olympics, placing sixth overall.