Richard Anthony Cunningham (born August 18, 1970) 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 with ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

in 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 ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

, and Jacksonville Jaguars. 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 ...

at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

Early years

Cunningham attended

Terrebonne High School Terrebonne High School is a high school in Houma, Louisiana. It is a part of the Terrebonne Parish School District. History In 1969 Southdown High School (originally Houma Colored High School), which educated black students in Terrebonne Parish, ...

, where he competed in football, baseball, tennis and track. As a senior, he contributed to the school winning the 1998 baseball district title. He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He was the team's kickoff specialist in his first 2 seasons. As a junior, he became the team's starter at

, making 5-of-11 field goals. He hit a 50 and a 46-yarder in a 13-12 win against Northern Illinois University. As a senior, he made 8-of-10 field goals attempts and 15-of-15 extra points attempts. He had a 49-yard field goal in a 17-14 win against

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

. He made a career-high 3 field goals against the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

. He finished his college career after making 13-of-21 field goal attempts and 31-of-32 extra points, for a total of 70 points.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)

Cunningham sat out the

1993 season File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. He was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 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 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

. On August 17, he was released after being beaten out by

Chris Boniol Christopher Donald Boniol (born December 9, 1971) is a former professional American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears. He won Super Bowl XXX with the Cowbo ...

Green Bay Packers

In April

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, he signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. Although he had an excellent preseason, including a game-winning

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

, the team released him on August 19 and decided to keep veteran

Chris Jacke Christopher Lee Jacke (born March 12, 1966) is a former professional American football placekicker best known for playing for the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League. Before his NFL career, Jacke played collegiately at the Universi ...

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

On April 15,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, he was signed by the

to compete for the starting job, after

left in free agency. He began his NFL career by making a 53-yard field goal in the season opener against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

(fourth longest debut field goal in league history). He made 5-of-5 field goals in the third game against 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 ...

, to total 15 of the Cowboys' 21 points. He had 19 field goals in his first 6 career games, breaking Jan Stenerud's league record of 18. He set a franchise record of 12 consecutive games with a made field goal. He had a streak of 18 consecutive field goals made (third longest in franchise history). He was named to the All-Pro team at the end of the season. He was 34-of-37 on his

attempts (91.9%), leading the

NFL 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 major ...

s made, setting the club record and ranking second for a rookie in league history. He was second in the

percentage and points scored (franchise record). He was 24 for 24 on extra points. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, he tied a franchise record with a 54-yard

and made 29-of-35

attempts, which at the time ranked third in club history. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, he was limited with a sprained right ankle and was released 12 games into the season, after he slumped and made only 12-of-22 of his

attempts. He was replaced with Eddie Murray.

Carolina Panthers

On December 14,

, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

, to replace an injured

John Kasay John David Kasay (born October 27, 1969) is a former American football kicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers. He played college football at Georgia and was selected by the Se ...

. On December 18, he tied a franchise single-game record by making 5 extra points against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. He appeared in the final three games of the season, making 3-of-3 field goals and 13-of-14 extra points. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, he played in the first 4 games of the season, making 5-of-7 field goal attempts and 9-of-9 extra points. He had a 25-yard attempt blocked in one contest and missed a 27-yard attempt against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in a 7-20 loss. He was replaced with Joe Nedney.

Cincinnati Bengals

On March 16,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he signed a two-year contract with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, to compete in training camp with

Neil Rackers Neil William Rackers (born August 16, 1976) is a former American football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. He played college football for the University of Illinois. Rackers was drafted by ...

. He was released on August 27.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On November 27,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, he was signed as a

by the Jacksonville Jaguars, to replace a struggling

Tim Seder Timothy R. Seder (born September 17, 1974) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, and Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at Ashland University. Earl ...

. On December 3, he was cut after playing in one game, making a 23-yard field goal and 2 extra points. His release was done to sign

Danny Boyd, who the club thought had a bigger potential. He finished his professional career with 84 for 105

attempts. His 80 percent rate was tied for 27th All-time in a career.

Personal life

Cunningham also received some notoriety during his

career for sharing the same name of the '' Happy Days'' television character played by

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

. He currently works for a pharmaceutical company. He is divorced from Kristin Cunningham and has three kids.

References

External links

Cunningham reflects on life as NFL kicker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Richie 1970 births Living people Terrebonne High School alumni Sportspeople from Houma, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana American football placekickers Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football players Dallas Cowboys players Carolina Panthers players Jacksonville Jaguars players