imported>Lost in Quebec: −Category:Sportspeople from Belleville, Illinois; ±Category:Players of American football from St. Clair County, Illinois→Category:Players of American football from Belleville, Illinois using HotCat

2025-03-15T09:13:32Z

−Category:Sportspeople from Belleville, Illinois; ±Category:Players of American football from St. Clair County, Illinois→Category:Players of American football from Belleville, Illinois using HotCat

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{{Short description|American football player (born 1956)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image =
| position = [[running back (American football)|Quarterback]]
| number = 16, 12
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|7|16}}
| birth_place = [[Belleville, Illinois]], U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 3
| weight_lbs = 213
| draftyear = 1980
| draftround = 4
| draftpick = 89
| high_school = [[Belleville High School-West|Belleville West]]
| college = [[Notre Dame University|Notre Dame]]
| pastteams =
* [[St. Louis Cardinals (football)|St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{NFL Year|1980|1983}})
* [[Chicago Bears]] ({{NFL Year|1984}})
| pastexecutive =
| statlabel1 = TD–INT
| statvalue1 = 1–11
| statlabel2 = Passing yards
| statvalue2 = 547
| statlabel3 = [[Passer rating]]
| statvalue3 = 25.1
| pfr = LiscRu00
| highlights =
* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1977]])
}}
'''Russell John Lisch''' (born July 16, 1956) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] [[quarterback]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL). He played five seasons for the [[Arizona Cardinals|St. Louis Cardinals]] (1980–1983) and the [[Chicago Bears]] (1984). In five seasons in the NFL, Lisch only managed one touchdown versus 11 interceptions, and ended his career with a 25.1 passer rating. He is considered by many to be one of the least effective quarterbacks in NFL history, if not the least effective, to have started multiple games.<ref>[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/900871-50-nfl-players-whose-careers-were-absolutely-pathetic/page/9 50 NFL Players Whose Careers Were Absolutely Pathetic: Rusty Lisch]</ref>

== College career ==
At the [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|University of Notre Dame]], Lisch was part of [[Dan Devine]]'s first recruiting class in 1975. He made his first [[Starting lineup|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 yielded 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.

== Professional career ==
Lisch began his professional football career as the third-string quarterback with the [[1980 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|St. Louis Cardinals]]. He completed six of 17 passes for 68 yards in the second half of a season-ending 31–7 loss to the [[1980 Washington Redskins season|Washington Redskins]] at [[Busch Memorial Stadium]] on December 21, 1980. With the Cardinals out of playoff contention again, and injuries to [[Ken Greene]] and [[Roy Green]], Lisch was pressed into service as a [[Safety (gridiron football position)|free safety]] in the last three games of the [[1981 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|1981 campaign]]; despite having previously never played the position, he agreed with head coach [[Jim Hanifan]] and Cardinals coaching staff that this situation was better than being inactive on the sidelines.<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/12/14/Rusty-Lisch-may-get-the-first-starting-assignment-of/9220377154000/ Rains, Rob. "Rusty Lisch may get the first starting assignment of...," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Monday, December 14, 1981.] Retrieved April 19, 2021</ref>

Lisch's rather poor NFL career caused him to receive the "honor" as the worst player in NFL history from sports blog [[Deadspin]] in 2011, with the blog saying:

{{cquote|Sure, [[Ryan Leaf|Leaf]] and [[Jamarcus Russell|Russell]] were bigger busts. Lisch, after all, was a fourth-round pick who had backed up Joe Montana at Notre Dame. But if you have one game you need to lose, and you require a quarterback to take you there, Lisch is – hands down – the man you want. In 115 career attempts he threw one touchdown and 11 interceptions. That one touchdown came in St. Louis on Oct. 9, 1983. The pass traveled a single yard, to tight end [[Doug Marsh]]. With [[Neil O'Donoghue]]'s extra point, the Redskins' lead was cut to 31-14 – late in the contest.}}

One year later, with both [[Jim McMahon]] and [[Steve Fuller (American football)|Steve Fuller]] injured, Lisch started a game for the Bears against Green Bay, but played so poorly that coach [[Mike Ditka]] berated Lisch before benching him late in the first half; Ditka inserted running back [[Walter Payton]] at quarterback.<ref>[http://deadspin.com/5690560/the-bottom-100-the-worst-players-in-nfl-history-part-2 The Bottom 100: The Worst Players in NFL History]. Deadspin. Retrieved August 14, 2014.</ref>

A 2020 [[ESPN]] article detailing the Bears' perennially subpar quarterback play at the time revealed Lisch had declined to return to the field after being berated for his poor play. On the subsequent flight home, Lisch, a 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."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickerson |first1=Jeff |title=Why the Chicago Bears have failed in solving their eternal quarterback quandary |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29345410/why-chicago-bears-failed-solving-their-eternal-quarterback-quandary |website=ESPN|date=22 June 2020 }}</ref> That Monday, Lisch brought Ditka a [[rosary]] prior to being released.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickerson |first1=Jeff |title=Why the Chicago Bears have failed in solving their eternal quarterback quandary |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29345410/why-chicago-bears-failed-solving-their-eternal-quarterback-quandary |website=ESPN|date=22 June 2020 }}</ref> It would be Lisch's final season in the NFL.

== Personal life ==
His son is former professional basketball player [[Kevin Lisch]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football navbox}}
{{Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback navbox}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals 1980 draft navbox}}
{{Chicago Bears starting quarterback navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisch, Rusty}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals (football) players]]
[[Category:Chicago Bears players]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Belleville, Illinois]]

Rusty Lisch - Revision history

imported>Lost in Quebec: −Category:Sportspeople from Belleville, Illinois; ±Category:Players of American football from St. Clair County, Illinois→Category:Players of American football from Belleville, Illinois using HotCat