Richard “Dick” Cunningham found football late, relatively speaking.
He played high school ball for only one year, but it was enough to land a scholarship to attend the University of Arkansas. Cunningham was all about the pigskin from then on, winning games and a national championship with the Razorbacks and then getting drafted by the Buffalo Bills and spending six years in the pros. He then dedicated his time to youth football in the community and passed on the love of the game to his son and other young players.
Cunningham’s playing days are over, but he tackles all opportunities in his life with gusto. He is now a courtesy cart driver for the Piedmont Fayette Hospital Auxiliary, making sure his passengers always touch down at their destinations safely.
A Peachtree City resident, Cunningham had an incredible football career. When colleges came calling, his father wanted him to choose the Texas Longhorns and his mother hoped he would select the Texas A&M Aggies. He had other plans, having been swayed by the poetry of some friends talking about running on to the field as Arkansas fans “called the hogs.” He chose the Razorbacks and was a key member of the offensive line for the school when they went 11-0 in 1964 and were named national champs by the Football Writers Association of America. Alabama was named national champs that year by the Associated Press, which at the time named the national champs before the bowl games. Alabama lost to Texas in the Orange Bowl that year.
Last October, Arkansas brought members of the 1964 team back together to celebrate their remarkable season and Cunningham got to reunite with teammates like Jerry Jones, now owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and Jimmy Johnson, former Cowboys coach and current TV analyst for FOX. Cunningham stated that it was great to see his old teammates again. He also noted a major difference when they met the current players who wear their numbers today.
“My roommate in college, Guy Jones, was a nose guard and might have weighed 165 pounds,” Cunningham said, showing photos of his teammates with their modern counterparts. Only one member of the current Razorback offensive line is under 300 pounds and that is Jackson Hannah at 295. The game might be the same but Cunningham feels that many of his former college and professional teammates were not big or fast enough to play in the modern game.
Cunningham was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in his junior year of college. He went pro, playing with the Bills for several years in the AFL before the AFL and NFL combined. He promised his mother when he signed an NFL contract he would buy her a Cadillac and he did. Her license plate bore his college number – 74 Hogs.
The Bills had some tough seasons during Cunningham’s career, maxing out at a height of four wins in a season three times.
“It was tough. We played in a stadium we called the Old Rockpile and practiced in horse arenas among the manure, and parking lots,” Cunningham recalled. “We had to walk through the stands to go to and from the locker room. It was important to keep your helmet on and your chin strap buckled. Buffalo had great fans, but they weren’t too friendly during losing seasons.”
Still, Cunningham had reached the zenith for football players. He was playing professionally and mixing it up with some of the greatest to ever play the game. He faced off against players like Alex Karras, Joe Greene, Merlin Olsen and Dick Butkus. When he switched from the offensive line to linebacker, his job was to go after legendary quarterbacks like Kenny Stabler, Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach.
The best thing to happen to him because of playing in the NFL though was meeting his wife, Carole.
“I was sitting with my teammate and his father before a practice during the preseason one day and he was telling me that his sister had been bugging him to fix her up with a football player now that she was done with college,” Cunningham recalled. “I told her I would take her out after our preseason game against the Lions on Friday. We hit it off, went out again Saturday and I proposed on Sunday. We were married the following Sunday, after our first game of the season against the New York Jets.”
The Cunninghams have been married for 47 years.
Cunningham showed that same spontaneity when settling down in Fayetteville. The family was living in Houston and decided they needed to go somewhere to get away. They went to Destin, Fla. for a beach vacation and were driving up into Georgia when Cunningham decided to visit a town he had passed through on his way to Airborne school at Ft. Benning. The town was Fayetteville. The family stopped on the lawn of the courthouse and fell in love. Carole, a teacher, crossed the street and spoke with the superintendent about possible job openings. They offered her a job at Hood Avenue Elementary a few days later and the family had a new place to call home.
After football, Cunningham transitioned into a sales career and was successful. He is easy to talk to with a good sense of humor and a firm handshake. His son, Karekin, was interested in playing football, so he got involved with the youth league and was president of the Fayetteville league for several years and instrumental when the stadium at McCurry Park was built.
When retirement came, Cunningham launched into numerous projects around the house and in the backyard. Carole, at the urging of their neighbor, and current vice president of the Auxiliary, Jean Speakman, decided to join the Piedmont Fayette Auxiliary and soon recommended it to her husband. He went in for an interview and was accepted and now drives the courtesy cart every Tuesday.
“I love what I do. I meet people and try to make their day happier or at least a little bit lighter,” Cunningham said. “I encourage people to park on my side, give them my card and tell them to call us when they need a ride. I haven’t lost a car yet.”
Cunningham is quick with a joke but serious about contributing to the community. He credits much of his character to his old college coach, Frank Broyles.
“He was a teaching coach and one thing that always sticks with me is the four don’ts of the kicking game: don’t be offsides, don’t rough the kicker, don’t let the ball hit the ground and thou shalt not clip,” Cunningham said. “Those rules can apply to life if you think about it. Don’t make costly mistakes, take advantage of opportunities, be ready to play and play smart.”
Broyles’ lessons have stayed with Cunningham over the years and he puts them into practice every week. When he gets in his cart he is ready to play and drive his passengers to their goal.
