Randall should join Robinson in College Hall of Fame

Former UNLV head coach and athletic director John Robinson’s selection to the College Football Hall of Fame last week was well deserved although the fact that former Arizona State/Ohio State head coach John Cooper beat him in a year ago is still a head-scratcher to me.

Robinson’s USC and UNLV teams thrived in rivalry and bowl games. Cooper was basically run out of Columbus because his team’s always seemed to find a way to come up short against Michigan. Oh, well.

Robinson is the first player or head coach with UNLV ties to make it into the College Hall of Fame in South Bend. He certainly shouldn’t be the last.

It’s time for the 12,000 or so National Football Foundation voters to put former Rebel QB/punter Randall Cunningham in the Hall as well.

Just a few days before the announcement that Robinson had made the Hall of Fame, I was watching the NFL Network when longtime NFL executive and talent evaluator Mike Lombardi volunteered the following on Cunningham: “The best punter I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Cunningham was a two-time All-American at UNLV who led the nation in punting in 1984 with a 47.5 average. That same year he led the nation in completion percentage (62.4 percent) when he completed 207-of-332 passes for 2,628 yards and 24 touchdowns.

How many players in NCAA history have led the nation in two major categories the same season, especially two as diverse as punting and passing?

Cunningham also averaged 45.7 yards as a sophomore in 1982 and 43.5 in 1983. He passed for at least 2,545 yards in all three seasons as a starting quarterback for the Rebels. And along with BYU’s Steve Young, you could make a pretty fair argument that Cunningham, who would go on to earn NFL Player of the Year honors with the Minnesota Vikings in 1998, helped redefine the quarterback position in the early 80’s with his explosive running ability.

“No question that he and Steve Young brought about the birth of the athletic quarterback in the NFL,” UNLV head coach Mike Sanford, who went head-to-head against Cunningham during his assistant coaching days at Long Beach State, said. “Without a doubt Randall deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I thought he was definitely a dominant football player for his era. He was a great quarterback AND a great punter. I thought that he was going to get in this year.”

It seems like a no-brainer. But then so was putting John Robinson in ahead of John Cooper. And nothing against Gino Torretta and Major Harris, the two QBs who made it into the Hall of Fame this year. But I think it’s fair to say they aren’t in Randall’s class as a quarterback … much less as a punter.

The folks at the Hall of Fame finally got it right with Robinson this year. Let’s hope next year they can fix the slight of Randall Cunningham next year.