Backup quarterback has first-string faith Randall Cunningham is back in the NFL for the second time and this time he's more vocal about his faith than ever. by Rob McKinney       After 11 grueling season as a National Football league quarterback, Randall Cunningham decided to call it quits. He left his job as the field general of the Philadelphia Eagles and landed a job as football analyst on TNT. That was in 1995.     Then people started asking: “When you are coming back?”     At first he shrugged the questions off. But when they persisted, he wondered himself. Should he?     “I heard it so much I began to think, ‘If God is talking to me though these people, I’m going to pray about it,’ ” Cunningham told Sports Spectrum magazine.     In prayer, he asked God to confirm if this was His will for his life. “Within two or three days, teams started calling me. For someone who’s retired, that can only be a sign from God.” After a year in retirement Cunningham returned in 1997 to play for the Minnesota Vikings as their back up QB, adding to his all time NFL rushing record among quarterbacks. This year an injury during the second game of the season felled starting quarterback Brad Johnson. Since then Cunningham has stepped in and helped lead the Vikings to a 7-0 record, tops in the NFL. Among the victories was a 37-24 win on Monday Night Football over the then-undefeated Green Bay Packers. In the game Cunningham passed for the most yards ever against the Packers.     Now that he’s back in the spotlight the former NFL Most Valuable Player is using it to credit God for his success.     “When God has kept you healthy through a game, or He has blessed you with a victory, you take a knee and give Him the glory. That is a state of humility — you humble yourself before the Lord,“ he told EP News.     “Praising the Lord is the number one thing that I try to do. A lot of people says, ‘Oh, here’s the God man again.’ They don’t want to hear anything about God. But I cannot pray to God to bless me and then deny Who has blessed me when the camera is put in my face. So I take each and ever opportunity to sneak it in there. I am going to stand up and say ‘Yes, the Lord has blessed me. I’m thankful. God has allowed me to be here.’ ”     Cunningham was encouraged by the example of his friend, heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, following his first victory over Mike Tyson.     “When they put the microphones in his face, he was praising the Lord to the point that [the reporters] said ‘Okay, enough about the Christianity thing — how about your heart?’ But Evander said, ‘The Lord blessed me and filled me with the Holy Spirit.’ ”     “That gave me the desire to get back into football and do what God has called me to do and stand boldly for the gospel. And when we stand boldly with the microphones at our mouths, maybe God is communicating to someone else out there who needs to stand up and be bold.” Cunningham adds, “We are all going to stand before God one day, whether we believe in Him or not, and we are going to be judged. The only thing that I would suggest is that people have an open heart about the gospel. If you can receive something. But if your heart is closed to it, then you can never receive it.” [LLN-Online] [Adopt-a-Block] [Newsbriefs][Event Calendar] [Lifestyles] [Juke Box] [Cover to Cover] [Movieguide][Casting the Net] [Viewpoints] [General Info] [Rates & Sizes][Marketplace/Classifieds] [Volunteer Ops] [Writing Guidelines] [Contact Us] [Subscribe][Archives][Good News] [About Us][Links]