Elijah William Cunningham (1896 – April 17, 1960) was an American sportswriter and college football player and coach. Cunningham was born in 1896, in Pattonville, Texas. He moved with his parents to Paris, Texas and then to Dallas as child and graduated from Dallas' Terrill School for Boys in 1915. Cunningham then attended Dartmouth College, where he played football before graduating in 1921. He was a second-team selection to the 1920 College Football All-America Team as a center. During World War I, he served in France with the United States Army as a first lieutenant of artillery.