Micale Malik Cunningham (born October 6, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

. He has also played in the NFL as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Early life

Cunningham attended Park Crossing High School in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. 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 The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

to play college football.

College career

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. 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. Cunningham was named the MVP of the 2019 Music City Bowl after passing for 279 yards with two touchdowns and rushing for 81 yards. Cunningham also played in the 2021 First Responder Bowl and the

2023 Senior Bowl The 2023 Senior Bowl was a college football all-star game played on February 4, 2023, at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the 2023 draft of the professional National Football League (NFL), predominantly ...

Statistics

Professional career

Cunningham was selected in the third round of the 2023 USFL draft by the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...

, although he opted not to play for them during the

2023 USFL season The 2023 USFL season was the second season of the United States Football League (2022), United States Football League. The regular season started on April 15 and ended on June 18. The postseason began on June 24 and ended with the 2023 USFL champ ...

, and instead committed to the NFL Draft.

New England Patriots

Following the conclusion of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

, the

signed Cunningham as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He was waived on August 29, 2023, and re-signed to the practice squad. On October 14, 2023, the Patriots promoted Cunningham to the active roster on a three-year contract. He was then released on October 24 and signed back to the practice squad the following day.

Baltimore Ravens

The

signed Cunningham off the Patriots' practice squad on December 12, 2023. The signing reunited him with his former Louisville teammate

Lamar Jackson Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. (born January 7, 1997) is an American professional football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals, winning the Heisman T ...

. During the team's 2024 organized team activities, he transitioned from quarterback to wide receiver. He was released during cuts on August 27, 2024, and signed onto the practice squad the next day. Cunningham signed a reserve/future contract with the Ravens on January 21, 2025.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Cunningham originally went by his middle name, Malik, before changing to his true first name, Micale, midway through the 2019 season. He again went by Malik in 2020.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bioLouisville Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Malik 1998 births Living people American football quarterbacks Baltimore Ravens players Louisville Cardinals football players New England Patriots players Players of American football from Montgomery, Alabama American football wide receivers