Cunningham hired by Raiders as new team chaplain
The Raiders dipped into the past glory of their new Las Vegas home to find their new team chaplain, hiring former NFL MVP Randall Cunningham, according to an ESPN.com report Friday.
Cunningham, UNLV’s star quarterback in the early 1980s before embarking on a successful 16-year NFL career, replaces ex-Raiders running back Napoleon Kaufman as Raiders’ team chaplain.
Kaufman had been the Raiders’ spiritual and religious leader in Oakland since 2012. Kaufman, who resigned as Bishop O’Dowd High’s football coach in November after a six-year run that included a state championship, remains a pastor in the East Bay.
Cunningham, a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback and league MVP with the Eagles in 1990, said he was “elated” and “flabbergasted” to be named the Raiders’ team chaplain in their first year in Las Vegas.
And he hasn’t wasted any time getting started.
“I’ve already been in on some (Zoom) meetings with the team,” he told ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “I plan on spending a lot of time with the guys when it’s OK. I’ve talked with Marcus Mariota, Nelson Agholor. What an amazing group of people Mark Davis and Jon Gruden have put together.”
Cunningham worked briefly with the Raiders coach in Philadelphia when Gruden was the Eagles offensive coordinator in 1995.
The 57-year-old Cunningham, who lives in Las Vegas where he serves as a pastor at his own church, said Gruden asked him to be the Raiders’ chaplain. “I have a responsibility to look after these guys in this town,” he said.
“And I accept that responsibility.”
Raiders owner Mark Davis sounded excited to have Cunningham in the organization.
“When you talk to anyone in the community, everybody always talks about Randall. It’s pretty special,” he told ESPN.