Road to 1991 Perfection: Cunningham Welcomed Brunell Back to the Huddle

No two players were closer on the 1990 University of Washington football team than Ed Cunningham and Mark Brunell. After all, one was the starting center and the other the No. 1 quarterback.

But they were good friends, too.

Cunningham, along with his Husky teammates, felt great despair that next April when Brunell got run over by a couple of defensive players in spring practice when he was supposed to be off limits for contact. He was left with a serious knee injury that required surgery to repair ligament damage.

Fast forward five months ahead, and here was Brunell trotting onto the field for the first time in a game since he got hurt. The crowd of 71,638 saw him and let out a loud roar that reached a crescendo.

Brunell had been summoned to join the Huskies and direct an offensive series at the end of the third quarter against Kansas State. The game was well out of hand and it would be decided 56-3. This moment was as important as any that day.

Once he reached the huddle, Brunell was greeted warmly by his buddy Cunningham before he got down to business.

"One of the best memories for me was the return of Mark Brunell," the former UW center said. "He spent the entire summer working as hard as anyone I'd seen work to get back on the field. It was a really special and unique moment when Coach [Don] James ushered Mark on to the field against Kansas State. The crowd was going crazy. As his teammate and his friend, I walked out of the huddle and welcomed him back into it."

Brunell, who describes this moment himself and what it meant to him on Husky Maven on Friday, admittedly felt rusty. He had not scrimmaged with the team. His knee still wasn't all that sturdy, plus he wore a thick knee brace. But he was back.

More than anything, the determined quarterback gave his teammates a boost by rejoining them in the middle of the action on Saturday and completing his personal comeback. This instance was all about brotherhood.

"It certainly raised our spirits and gave us all a lot of appreciation and thankfulness for someone like Mark to be on our team and to go through what he went through and end up playing, and have a good season, obviously a great next season and a great pro career," Cunningham said. "It was one of my unique and special moments of my time as a Husky."

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