Bennie Cunningham
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2020) |
.png) Cunningham at Clemson in 1975 | |||||||||
| No. 89 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | December 23, 1954 Laurens, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | April 23, 2018 (aged 63) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 254 lb (115 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Seneca (Seneca, South Carolina) | ||||||||
| College: | Clemson | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1976 / round: 1 / pick: 28 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Bennie Lee Cunningham Jr. (December 23, 1954 – April 23, 2018[1]) was an American professional football player who was a tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was born to Bennie Lee Cunningham Sr., and Carol Cunningham. He was selected out of the Clemson University in the 1976 NFL draft by the Steelers.[2] During his career, he played in 118 games and caught 202 receptions for 2,879 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Cunningham's most famous play in the NFL was a game-winning touchdown in a Pittsburgh home game versus divisional rival Cleveland on September 24, 1978. It came on a flea-flicker play, culminating in a pass from Terry Bradshaw to Cunningham, who caught the ball in the back right corner of the end zone. It gave the Steelers a dramatic 15–9 victory over the Browns in sudden-death overtime.
On April 23, 2018, Cunningham died at age 63 at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where he had been fighting cancer for about three months.
NFL career statistics
[edit]| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won the Super Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1976 | PIT | 12 | 0 | 5 | 49 | 9.8 | 20 | 1 |
| 1977 | PIT | 12 | 11 | 20 | 347 | 17.4 | 43 | 2 |
| 1978 | PIT | 6 | 6 | 16 | 321 | 20.1 | 48 | 2 |
| 1979 | PIT | 15 | 7 | 36 | 512 | 14.2 | 41 | 4 |
| 1980 | PIT | 15 | 1 | 18 | 232 | 12.9 | 35 | 2 |
| 1981 | PIT | 15 | 15 | 41 | 574 | 14.0 | 30 | 3 |
| 1982 | PIT | 9 | 9 | 21 | 277 | 13.2 | 31 | 2 |
| 1983 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 35 | 442 | 12.6 | 29 | 3 |
| 1984 | PIT | 7 | 4 | 4 | 64 | 16.0 | 29 | 1 |
| 1985 | PIT | 11 | 11 | 6 | 61 | 10.2 | 17 | 0 |
| 118 | 80 | 202 | 2,879 | 14.3 | 48 | 20 | ||
Playoffs
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1976 | PIT | 2 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 9.0 | 29 | 0 |
| 1977 | PIT | 1 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 14.0 | 19 | 0 |
| 1979 | PIT | 3 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 8.8 | 16 | 1 |
| 1982 | PIT | 1 | 1 | 5 | 55 | 11.0 | 16 | 1 |
| 1983 | PIT | 1 | 1 | 2 | 32 | 16.0 | 18 | 0 |
| 1984 | PIT | 2 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 |
| 10 | 7 | 19 | 219 | 11.5 | 29 | 2 | ||
References
[edit]- ^ Matt Connolly, "Former Clemson, Steelers great Bennie Cunningham dies from cancer", The State, April 23, 2018
- ^ "Bennie Cunningham Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
External links
[edit]
 | This biographical article relating to an American football tight end born in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1954 births
- 2018 deaths
- American football tight ends
- Clemson Tigers football players
- Pittsburgh Steelers players
- All-American college football players
- People from Laurens, South Carolina
- Players of American football from South Carolina
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- American football tight end, 1950s birth stubs