Rusty Lisch


Russell John "Rusty" Lisch is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played five seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Bears. After 5 seasons in the NFL, Lisch only managed 1 touchdown versus 11 interceptions thrown. He retired with a 25.1 passer rating.
At the University of Notre Dame, Lisch was part of Dan Devine's first recruiting class in 1975. He made his first start in place of injured Rick Slager in 1976, achieving a 40–27 victory against Miami. He started the first three games of 1977 but then would yield the starting job to Joe Montana. Lisch would finally be named the permanent starting quarterback as a fifth-year senior in 1979, winning seven of ten starts, highlighted by his 336-yard passing effort as the Irish rallied from a 17–3 deficit against South Carolina for an 18–17 victory.
Lisch's rather bad NFL career caused him to receive the "honor" as the worst player in NFL history from sports blog Deadspin in 2011, saying:
One year later, with Jim McMahon and Steve Fuller hurt, Lisch started a game for the Bears against Green Bay. He played so poorly that Mike Ditka pulled him, "for Walter Payton." In 2020, an ESPN article detailing the Bears' perennially subpar quarterback play in the Super Bowl era, it was revealed Lisch refused to go back in the game after Ditka had screamed at him due to his poor play. On the plane-ride home, Lisch, a very religious man, was reading the Bible when Ditka walked up and told him, "I hope there is something in that book about job opportunities, because you'll need one on Monday." That Monday, Lisch brought Ditka a rosary prior to being released. It would be Lisch's final season in the NFL.
His son is former professional basketball player, Kevin Lisch.