Randall Cunningham resigned as the Las Vegas Raiders team chaplain on July 20, and three weeks later, it has finally been revealed why he did so.
The former NFL star and UNLV product told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in a phone interview this week that he did not feel he was needed by the organization any longer.
“I kept calling and calling and calling, trying to contact the right officials to get the OK on what the direction was with Coach [Josh] McDaniels, but it just went by, and finally I said, ‘I don’t think I’m needed here anymore,’" Cunningham said.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that Cunningham had left around three messages for McDaniels, only to hear back two months later.
“He texted me one time and he said, ‘I’m looking forward to you and your involvement here," Cunningham said. "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 told the outlet that the interaction between Keith Johnson, the team chaplain for the Minnesota Vikings during Cunningham's playing days with the franchise, and the organization was much different than his recent experience.
“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,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham was hired by former Raiders coach Jon Gruden back in 2020.
The former NFL quarterback played 11 seasons (1985-1995) for the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was selected to three-straight Pro Bowls. He then played for the Vikings from 1997 to 1999, with whom he earned his fourth and final Pro Bowl selection.
Cunningham finished his playing career as a member of the Dallas Cowboys in 2000 and then the Baltimore Ravens in 2001.
He was a runner-up for MVP three times in his NFL career.
Cunningham was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
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