Bryan Cunningham, Jr. (born May 29, 1989) is a

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. He was selected in the sixth round at the 183rd overall pick in the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

Early years

Cunningham attended

Westerville South High School Westerville South High School is a public high school located in Westerville, Ohio, northeast of Columbus, Ohio. Originally Westerville High School, it is the oldest of the three high schools in the Westerville City School District. It serves mos ...

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin and Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, the population was 39,190 at the 2020 census. Westerville is the home of Otterbein University. Westerville was once known a ...

. As a senior, he had 45 receptions for 770 yards and nine

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

College career

Cunningham concluded his career at Michigan State as the school's all-time leader in receptions (218) and receiving yards (3,086). He also ranks second in career TD receptions with 25.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

He was selected in the sixth round of the

by the

. On May 17 of that year, Cunningham signed a four-year $2.2 million contract; includes a $106,000 signing bonus. Cunningham was, however, cut by the Dolphins on August 31, 2012.

Philadelphia Eagles

Cunningham was signed to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

practice squad on September 1, 2012. On August 1, 2013, Cunningham was waived with an injury settlement by the Philadelphia Eagles. On October 14, 2013, Cunningham was re-signed to the Eagles' active roster. He was released on November 12, 2013. Two days later, he was signed to Eagles'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

Chicago Bears

Cunningham was signed to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

practice squad on November 12, 2014.

Montreal Alouettes

Cunningham was signed by the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

on July 28, 2015. After a modest 2015 season Cunningham had a breakout 2016 campaign, playing in 17 regular season games catching 65 passes for 855 yards with 4 touchdowns. The following season, in 2017, he had the best season of his career, catching 69 passes for 1,128 yards with 4 touchdowns. Cunningham missed four games in the 2018 season but was still a significant contributor to the Alouettes' passing attack. In February 2019, Cunningham signed a contract extension with Montreal. In August 2019, Cunningham suffered a fractured wrist and played in just six games. He signed a one-year contract extension with the Alouettes on January 25, 2021. For the 2021 season, Cunningham played in nine games where he had 36 receptions for 474 yards and one touchdown. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 8, 2022.

Ottawa Redblacks

On February 10, 2022, it was announced that Cunningham had signed with the

. Cunningham was released as part of the team's final roster cuts on June 4, 2022.

References

External links

Ottawa Redblacks bio

Philadelphia Eagles bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, B. J. 1989 births Living people American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Michigan State Spartans football players Miami Dolphins players Philadelphia Eagles players Chicago Bears players Montreal Alouettes players Ottawa Redblacks players Players of American football from Ohio People from Westerville, Ohio