Melvin Cunningham (born December 16, 1973) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive specialist In arena football, a specialist was a player, other than a quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive plato ...

who played two seasons with the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL). He played college football at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

. He was also a member of 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 p ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

College career

Cunningham played for the

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are member ...

from 1993 to 1996. He was an All-American and first team All-

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

selection in 1995 and 1996. He recorded 3 interceptions, returning both for touchdowns, and 27 tackles his senior year in 1996. The Thundering Herd won the Division I-AA national championship in 1996.

Professional career

Cunningham signed with the

of the NFL on April 27, 1997 after going undrafted in the

1997 NFL Draft The 1997 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 19–20, 1997, at the Paramount T ...

. He was released by the Dolphins on August 12, 1997. Cunningham was signed by the AFL's

during the 1999 off-season. He earned Second Team All-Arena honors in 1999. He missed the 2000 and 2001 seasons due to injury. He was placed on injured reserve on June 18, 2002. Cunningham was later placed on the injured exempt list on January 11, 2003. He was released by the Storm on November 6, 2003.

Coaching career

Cunningham was defensive backs coach of the River Cities LocoMotives of the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

in 2001. Cunningham became

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the Tug Valley High School Panthers of

Mingo County, West Virginia Mingo County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,568. Its county seat and largest city is Williamson. Created in 1895, Mingo is West Virginia's newest county, named for the historic Iro ...

in 2000. He was defensive coach for the Burch High School Bulldogs of

Delbarton, West Virginia Delbarton is a town in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 522 at the 2020 census. History Delbarton was incorporated September 6, 1946, by the Mingo County Circuit Court. The name Delbarton comes from the New Jerse ...

in 2010. Cunningham became head coach of the Fairland High School Dragons of

Proctorville, Ohio Proctorville is a village in Lawrence County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 574 at the 2010 census. The East End Bridge connects Proctorville to Huntington, West Virginia across the Ohio River. Proctorville is ...

. The team went 0-10 in 2015 and 3-7 in 2016. 2021 season finished 10-2 with a loss in Ohio HS playoffs sweet sixteen round. In 2023, Cunningham resigned from his job at Fairland after he was named the Murray High School head football coach.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Melvin Living people 1973 births African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football American football defensive backs High school football coaches in Ohio High school football coaches in West Virginia Marshall Thundering Herd football players Players of American football from West Virginia Sportspeople from Huntington, West Virginia Tampa Bay Storm players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople