Men’s recruit: Wood’s Cunningham picks Drexel, and lacrosse over football

By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/27/09

Archbishop Wood senior long stick midfielder Sean Cunningham has signed a letter of intent to play next year at Drexel University.

Cunningham did not commit until recently because he seriously considered several Division I-AA football offers. Last fall he led the Vikings’ football team to the District 12 Class AAA championship and a berth in the state finals, scoring 27 touchdowns while rushing for more than 1,700 yards.

But when it came down to it, the choice was still lacrosse.

“With us doing so well and going so far, I didn’t want to make any bad decisions,” said Cunningham. “I wanted to make my mind clear and get everything I could get.

“Yeah, I considered it (football). The football season was amazing and I didn’t want it to stop. But I’d rather play lacrosse.”

Cunningham, a first honor student at Wood, is planning on majoring in engineering at Drexel. He chose the school for its academics and its highly-rated coach, Chris Bates.

“Coach Bates is an amazing guy and they got a new coach (Greg Raymond) coming in as a defensive coach,” Cunningham said.  “Coach Bates said he’d turn me into an animal (on the field).

“When I went down there, I felt like I could fit in. I love the campus and the field.”

Cunningham is equally excited about the coming scholastic season. The Vikings have been the No. 3 team in the Catholic League in recent years behind La Salle and St. Joseph’s Prep and they are hoping to challenge the two powerhouses.

“We have a real good team coming back and we know what we’ve got to do,” aid Cunningham. “We’ve got the players; we just have to come out and really play.”

Cunningham credits the father of his good friend and lacrosse/football teammate, Sean McCartney, for getting him into lacrosse as a middle schooler.

“I played football since first grade and never picked up a lacrosse stick until eighth grade,” he said. “Sean’s dad coached one of the opposing grade school football teams and said, ‘You have to give him a lacrosse stick.’ I finally listened to him.”