| Current Team: | Baltimore Ravens |
| Number: | 12 |
| Position: | Wide receiver |
| Birth Date: | 6 October 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 1 |
| Weight Lb: | 198 |
| High School: | Park Crossing |
| College: | Louisville (2017–2022) |
| Undraftedyear: | 2023 |
| Pastteams: |
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| Status: | Active |
| Highlights: |
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| Pfr: | CunnMa00 |
Micale Malik Cunningham (born October 6, 1998) is an American professional football wide receiver[1] for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL).[2] He played college football at Louisville. He has also played in the NFL as a quarterback for the New England Patriots.
Cunningham attended Park Crossing High School in Montgomery, Alabama. During his career, he passed for 6,276 yards and 71 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,926 yards and 32 scores. He committed to the University of Louisville to play college football.[3] [4]
After redshirting his first year at Louisville in 2017, Cunningham appeared in 10 games and made three starts in 2018. He completed 40 of 67 passes for 473 yards with one touchdown and one interception and rushed for a team-high 497 yards and five touchdowns.[5] In 2019, he completed 111 of 178 passes for 2,065 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also added 482 yards and six touchdowns rushing. On November 18, 2021, Cunningham put up 527 yards of offense (224 yards rushing and 303 yards passing) in a blowout victory against Duke; he had five passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.[6]
Cunningham was named the MVP of the 2019 Music City Bowl after passing for 279 yards with two touchdowns and rushing for 81 yards.[7] Cunningham also played in the 2021 First Responder Bowl and the 2023 Senior Bowl.
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | — | Redshirt | ||||||||||||
| 2018 | 10 | 3 | 1−2 | 40 | 67 | 59.7 | 473 | 7.1 | 1 | 1 | 120.9 | 79 | 497 | 6.3 | 5 | |
| 2019 | 12 | 10 | 7−3 | 112 | 179 | 62.6 | 2,065 | 11.5 | 22 | 5 | 194.4 | 123 | 482 | 3.9 | 6 | |
| 2020 | 11 | 11 | 4−7 | 195 | 304 | 64.1 | 2,617 | 8.6 | 20 | 12 | 150.3 | 131 | 609 | 4.6 | 7 | |
| 2021 | 13 | 13 | 6−7 | 209 | 337 | 62.0 | 2,941 | 8.7 | 19 | 6 | 150.4 | 173 | 1,034 | 6.0 | 20 | |
| 2022 | 10 | 10 | 5−5 | 136 | 218 | 62.4 | 1,568 | 7.2 | 8 | 5 | 130.3 | 113 | 560 | 5.0 | 12 | |
| Career | 56 | 47 | 23−24 | 692 | 1,105 | 62.6 | 9,664 | 8.7 | 70 | 29 | 151.7 | 619 | 3,182 | 5.1 | 50 | |
Cunningham was drafted in the third round of the 2023 USFL draft by the Birmingham Stallions, although he opted not to play for them during the 2023 USFL season, and instead committed to the NFL Draft.
Following the conclusion of the 2023 NFL draft, the New England Patriots signed Cunningham as an undrafted free agent.[8] He was waived on August 29, 2023, and re-signed to the practice squad.[9] [10] On October 14, 2023, the Patriots promoted Cunningham to the active roster on a three-year contract.[11] [12] He was then released on October 24 and signed back to the practice squad the following day.[13] [14]
The Baltimore Ravens signed Cunningham off the Patriots' practice squad on December 12, 2023. The signing reunited him with his former Louisville teammate Lamar Jackson.[15] During the team's 2024 organized team activities, he transitioned from quarterback to wide receiver.[16]
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacked | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| BAL | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Career | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
Cunningham originally went by his middle name, Malik, before changing to his true first name, Micale, midway through the 2019 season.[17] He again went by Malik in 2020.[18]