Daily Republic: Cunningham enjoys hero's role at Cal

By Corey Lewis

BERKELEY - Welcome, La'Reyelle Cunningham, to Cal football. Like most freshman walk-on football players at NCAA Division I schools, Cunningham, a 2003 Vanden High grad, hasn't played much this season. He'd seen game action at the University of California, Berkeley sparingly, but only in three wide receiver sets as the third option the last couple of weeks. Unlike most freshman walk-on players, however, Cunningham's first catch of his college career was a game-breaker. After the team watched a 28-10 halftime lead evaporate into a 38-28 deficit with less than nine minutes left in the game Saturday against Washington State University, Cal quarterback Joe Ayoob hit Cunningham for a quick-strike, 57-yard touchdown to cut Washington State's lead to three and shift momentum squarely into the Bears' corner.  It was Cunningham's first catch and first touchdown of his college career. In fact it was the first time the ball had been thrown his way outside of practice. “It just felt great,” Cunningham said the day after the game. “It's hard to describe. I just set the ball down and ran to the sidelines. I was screaming the whole way, though.”

That wasn't it for the freshman, who redshirted last season. Cunningham finished with five catches for 112 yards, including a 21-yard grab with a little more than two minutes left in the game that set up Ayoob's game-winning, 9-yard strike to Lavelle Hawkins that put the Bears ahead 42-38.

“I've been talking to everybody today - my family, my friends,” Cunningham said, adding that his mom was in the stands at the game. “Everyone's been real supportive, but they've been behind me the whole way.” On a radio post-game show, Hawkins told an interviewer that he was nervous when the play was called before Cal's his game winning catch. When told about that, Cunningham laughed and said his instincts - not nerves - took over when he saw the ball coming his way. “It was all just natural reactions,” he said. “I got my hands up there, grabbed it, held on to it and ran for the end zone. It's just natural for me. “I was excited,” he added. “I wanted to get back in the game and score again.” Though he's not on scholarship, Cunningham said he wasn't concerned with that, saying only, “I hope so,” when asked if he thinks his playing time will pick up. Injuries have helped earn him playing time for now. He said he was happy just picking up his team and his teammates and isn't worried about the future. “Whatever I can do, I'll do it,” he said. “My number was called and I took advantage of it. That's all I can do and that's what I'll keep doing.”