Rusty Lisch

Russell John "Rusty" Lisch (born December 21, 1956) is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played five seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals (1980–1983) and the Chicago Bears (1984). After 5 seasons in the NFL, Lisch only managed 1 touchdown versus 11 interceptions thrown. He retired with a 25.1 passer rating.[1]

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:

"Sure, Leaf and 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 Jim McMahon and Steve Fuller hurt, Lisch started a game for the Bears against Green Bay. He played so poorly that coach Mike Ditka benched him late in the first half and inserted Walter Payton at quarterback.[2] A 2020 ESPN article detailing the Bears' perennially subpar quarterback play at the time revealed Lisch also refused to return to the field after Ditka had berated him for his poor play. On the subsequent plane-ride 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."[3] That Monday, Lisch brought Ditka a rosary prior to being released.[4] It would be Lisch's final season in the NFL.

His son is former professional basketball player, Kevin Lisch.