Bennie Cunningham

Bennie Lee Cunningham Jr. (December 23, 1954 – April 23, 2018 ) 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 28th overall in the first round out of Clemson University in the 1976 NFL draft by the Steelers. 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 Legend Won the Super Bowl Bold Career high

Regular season 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 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