Road to 1991 Perfection: Cunningham Enjoyed the Ride to the National Title

The veteran Husky center mixed well with reporters and middle linebackers and soaked in the nostalgia.

Ed Cunningham saw advantages to dealing with the media. The University of Washington center had plenty of intelligent things to say and this medium gave him a platform. 

The Virginia native took part in a weekly radio spot that eventually led to a national TV broadcasting job. He now works in the film-making business in Southern California. He became the media. 

So it was no surprise after 1992 Rose Bowl practice one day in Orange County that Cunningham summoned the four Husky beat writers he knew best — of which I was one — to pose for the accompanying photo with him and his family.

Cunningham enjoyed the entire postseason experience, right up to the chartered bus ride that dropped down a hillside and delivered his football team to the famed stadium framed by the picturesque Arroyo Secca mountains. 

He sat next to starting running back Beno Bryant and they had done this the year before, but not with a national championship on the line, which brought added pressure. They sat directly behind coach Don James and his wife Carol.

"We knew the view would be cool," Cunningham said. "It was the most calm. It was like we were going to the museum. It was a cool moment and all of a sudden there's the Rose Bowl. On the drive to the stadium, the game never came up."

This is another in a series of vignettes about the UW's 1991 national championship team, supplementing the conversation for the pandemic-delayed and -shortened season. We're dealing with game 12 of this throwback series, the '92 Rose Bowl against Michigan, a 34-14 victory. 

As the Husky snapper, Cunningham practiced daily against the defense and in particular inside linebacker Dave Hoffmann. They were teammates, friends and steady combatants.

"Hoff and I would fight every third practice," said Cunningham of a teammate who would become a Secret Service agent. "I went up against Hoffmann probably more than any other dude.  We were best friends the moment before [contact] and the moment after."

All of this made it so much easier to play Michigan with everything on the line. The Huskies were battle-tested, especially after letting the national title slip away the season before with a late-season 25-22 loss to heavy underdog UCLA at home.

"We were really good before, but we got cocky and we didn’t know it and we lost to UCLA," Cunningham said. "We had matured so much. There wasn’t any tension."

Rose Bowl press pass / Dan Raley

The big lineman, later an NFL player for the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, gave total credit to James for having everyone in a proper state of mind and ready to achieve ultimate goals.

"There was a lot to be said the way the coach did things — he was brilliant," Cunningham said. "He knew how to get us ready for the big stuff. He didn’t overwork it. He didn't beat us to death in those practices. It was, 'This what we do and how we do it and let’s go.' "

During the action, Cunningham got acquainted with Wolverines middle linebacker Eric Anderson, an All-American selection, fairly quickly. Anderson was Michigan's Hoffmann. Their exchange was physical and verbal, and highly respectful at all times.

"That game was a forgone conclusion and Michigan knew it pretty early, too," the Husky player said. "The middle linebacker, Erick Anderson, by the middle of the second quarter said to me, 'You guys are really good. I get it.' "

It was an unforgettable ride. Sitting on the bus. Winning the New Year's Day game. Being the best. 

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