Randall Cunningham Scrambles his way to the Top Spot at No. 12

The No. 12 in Eagles history had its moments.

Red Ramsey wore it. Way before my time, but from 1938-1940 Ramsey had 53 catches for 624 yards and two touchdowns.

There are way too many River Cracrafts, however, to go beyond the one player who wore No. 12 best of all, and that would be quarterback Randall Cunningham.

Cunningham stands alone as our jersey countdown to kickoff reaches the No. 12, which means there are just 12 days before the season opener against Washington.

The Eagles drafted Cunningham out of UNLV in the second round – the 37th player taken overall – in 1985 and he would go on to become a human highlight reel, though it took a couple of years.

Had the USFL not folded shortly after Cunningham was drafted, he may have ended up with the Tampa Bay Bandits, because then-Eagles owner Norman Braman didn’t want to negotiate with Cunningham if he engaged in talks with the Bandits.

When Cunningham arrived, he served as backup to Ron Jaworski, making it into 12 games, mostly as a third-and-long specialist. It was an ominous beginning, as he threw only one touchdown to eight interceptions while completing just 34 percent of his throws.

In 1987, Cunningham became the full-time starter, throwing 23 touchdowns with 12 interceptions, though he was sacked a franchise-record 72 times.

The quarterback made many memorable plays, including:

A 95-yard touchdown pass to Fred Barnett in 1990, a pass unleashed from his own end zone and just before Buffalo’s Bruce Smith was about to deliver a blindside hit.

An all-conference punter in college, he had a 91-yard punt against the Giants, and in his career had 20 punts for an average of 44.7 yards.

In 1991, his season came to an end in the opener when a hit by Packers linebacker Bryce Paup tore an anterior cruciate ligament. He returned the following season, but the injury took away much of his speed and athleticism.

He “retired” in 1995 but came out of retirement in 1997, playing three seasons with the Vikings and one each with the Cowboys and Ravens before calling it a career at the age of 38.

Cunningham left Philadelphia with 4,482 rushing yards, behind only Steve Van Buren and Wilbert Montgomery, but since surpassed by Duce Staley, Brian Westbrook, and LeSean McCoy.

He also left second only to Jaworski in passing yards with 22,877, which was later surpassed by Donovan McNabb.

In 11 seasons with the Eagles, Cunningham went to three straight Pro Bowls, threw for 150 touchdowns, 105 interceptions, took 422 sacks, and still holds the team record for 6.62 yards per rush in his career.

Current No. 12:

UNASSIGNED

Others: John Roberts, Ed Matesic, Art Buss, Herschel “Red” Ramsey, Kent Lawrence, Tom McNeill, Bill Troup, Bob Holly, and River Cracraft.

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