Little did he know this singular interview would be a manifestation for the position Cunningham now holds in Atlanta nearly two decades later; the position of a general manager.
Reflecting on what would be next in life for him, Cunningham set a dream in motion.
“People tell me I should go to law school,” Cunningham was quoted saying in a December issue of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2007. “I have teachers telling me I should go to business school and things like that. I don’t know. I’m going to see how long I can play football, and the good Lord willing, I can play for a little while longer. Then, after that, I want to become general manager for a professional football team.”
His father, Louis, echoed his son’s goal. Doubling down on it, in fact.
“If history holds true,” Louis said, “he’ll be a general manager, if not an owner, of a team.”
Cunningham began nurturing that dream early. Despite his hope to continue playing, that wasn’t necessarily long withstanding. Cunningham was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2008. However, by that year’s end, he had traded in his helmet for a suite, and began his executive career as a player personnel assistant in the Ravens organization. He held that job for five seasons before moving onto the road as an area scout until 2016.
By 2017, Cunningham was quickly moving up the executive ranks. He made the move to Philadelphia to become the Eagles’ director of college scouting that year. Before becoming the assistant general manager in Chicago — his most recent title on Ryan Poles’ Bears staff — he was the director of player personnel for the Eagles in 2021.
And now, after helping to guide a re-vamped Bears team the last few years, Cunningham’s dream of being a general manager is fully and finally realized with the Falcons.
