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Learning from tough times

The Storm's Melvin Cunningham tries to come back from an injury and his mother's unexpected death.

By FRANK PASTOR
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 12, 2002

When Melvin Cunningham was a child, he tried to quit football. But his mother sent him back to the field and made him be the waterboy.

"It taught me, in life, you never quit anything," Cunningham said. "You start something, you finish it."

So he kept playing. He played through high school and on a Division I-AA national championship team at Marshall with Randy Moss. He started a promising Arena Football League career but a serious foot injury threatened to end it.

He couldn't play, so he returned home. Shortly after his return, his mother died.

Two years after the injury, Cunningham is trying to make a comeback with the Storm. He hopes to be in the lineup tonight when Tampa Bay plays at Orlando in its second preseason game.

He knows his mother would be pleased.

"It would have been very hard for me to quit because she instilled in me never to quit," he said.

Cunningham, 28, was about to become one of the league's top two-way players when he was diagnosed with a stress arch in his foot after he stepped on the boards stretching to defend a pass during the 2000 preseason.

He returned to his home in Red Jacket, W.Va., to be with his family. Soon after, his mother, Mary Alice Blackwell, died at 49 in the hospital after gall bladder surgery.

Cunningham thinks the injury happened for a reason.

"God knew I needed to be somewhere else, and it would have been a difficult decision for me," he said. "Do you go home and take care of your things there, or do you stay and finish out what you have with the Tampa Bay Storm? I think God has a way of answering questions for you that we may not be strong enough to answer ourselves."

Cunningham tried to stay away from football, but the lure was too strong. He coached the River Cities Locomotives of the National Indoor Football League last year and signed with the Storm as a free agent in January.

"(The injury) has kind of taken away the enjoyment of being around these guys for two years for me," Cunningham said. "I guess, by the grace of God, I get another opportunity to play."

Cunningham said it is hard not to think about the possibilities after a 1999 season in which he led the Storm with 1,086 all-purpose yards and received second-team All-Arena honors as a wide receiver/defensive back.

"I think that the sky might have been the limit for me, you never know," he said. "But I look back and think that hopefully the two years that I was off and the things I learned and the experiences that I was able to get can hopefully help me out this year."

Cunningham entered camp competing with former Dallas Cowboys safety Jason Kaiser and third-year Storm player Jami Oats for the wide receiver/defensive back spot. Oats was suspended Wednesday for violating team rules and will miss at least the first two regular-season games.

Cunningham's explosiveness was beginning to return when he bruised a bone that limited his practice time and kept him out of last week's preseason opener against Dallas.

"It's going to hurt his chances," coach Tim Marcum said. "Although if he gets well, I know what he can do, so that's the main thing -- him getting well and to where he can run full speed."

If he can't play tonight, Cunningham likely will start the season on injured reserve and miss at least two games.

Cunningham said when the injury heals, he plans to pick up where he left off two years ago.

"I expect to be the best two-way player in this league," he said. "I think I have the talent to be that player, but that's yet to be seen."

ROSTER MOVES: Offensive/defensive lineman Bryne Malone was placed on recallable waivers, opening a spot for quarterback Shane Stafford, who has been on the exempt list since being released by the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe. The Storm also signed former San Jose Sabercats center Sai Poulivaati.

TONIGHT: PRESEASON STORM AT ORLANDO

WHEN/WHERE: 7:15; TD Waterhouse Centre.

PRESEASON RECORDS: Storm 1-0, Orlando 1-0.

COACHES: Storm -- Tim Marcum (136-42, 14th season). Orlando -- Fran Papasedero (first season).

SERIES: Orlando leads 15-13.

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