Randall Cunningham says he didn’t feel ‘needed’ by Raiders

Former UNLV and NFL star Randall Cunningham resigned as the team chaplain of the Raiders last month because he didn’t feel “needed” by new coach Josh McDaniels.

Cunningham broke his silence on his reasons for stepping away from the organization in an interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Wednesday.

“I kept calling and calling and calling, trying to contact the right officials to get the OK on what the direction was with Coach McDaniels, but it just went by, and finally I said, ‘I don’t think I’m needed here anymore,’ ” Cunningham told the paper.

The longtime NFL quarterback and member of the College Football Hall of Fame lives in Las Vegas where he opened Remnant Ministries on Windmill Lane more than 15 years ago. He had served as team chaplain since he was brought in by Jon Gruden in 2020 when the franchise relocated from Oakland.

He quietly announced his resignation with a July 20 social media post.

Cunningham now says he reached out to owner Mark Davis and left several messages for McDaniels shortly after the new coach was hired earlier this year. Cunningham indicated he finally got a response two months later that McDaniels was looking forward to working with him, but apparently wanted more interaction at a time when McDaniels was building a staff and preparing for his first season as a head coach in more than a decade.

“I said, ‘Feel free to call anytime.’ And I never received a call back,” Cunningham said. “I just figured that was kind of like a sign for me it is time for me to move on.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.