50 Facts About Joe Theismann

Joseph Robert Theismann was born on September 9,1949 and is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur.

Joe Theismann rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.

Joe Theismann spent 12 seasons with the Washington Redskins, where he was a two-time Pro Bowler and helped the team to consecutive Super Bowl appearances, winning Super Bowl XVII over the Miami Dolphins and losing Super Bowl XVIII.

Joe Theismann played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Joe Theismann worked as a sportscaster and an analyst on pro football broadcasts with ESPN for nearly 20 years.

Joe Theismann primarily partnered with Mike Patrick, for the network's Sunday Night Football package and for one season of Monday Night Football with Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser.

Joe Theismann worked as a color analyst on NFL Network's Thursday Night Football package with play-by-play voice Bob Papa and Matt Millen.

Joe Theismann is the owner of Joe Theismann's Restaurant and Bar in Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1975.

Joe Theismann was raised in South River, New Jersey, and attended South River High School, where he lettered in baseball, basketball, and football.

Joe Theismann was a high school teammate of Drew Pearson.

Joe Theismann accepted a college football scholarship to attend the University of Notre Dame, where he lived in Zahm Hall.

At Notre Dame, Joe Theismann became the starting quarterback in his sophomore year, after Terry Hanratty was injured late in the season.

That year, Joe Theismann was an All-American and an Academic All-American, and was in contention for the Heisman Trophy.

Joe Theismann set school records for passing yards in a season and touchdowns in a season.

Joe Theismann's 4,411 passing yards rank fifth on Notre Dame's career passing list.

Joe Theismann was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Joe Theismann was the eighth Notre Dame quarterback enshrined into the hall, joining former Heisman Trophy winners Angelo Bertelli, John Lujack, and Paul Hornung.

Joe Theismann was selected 99th overall in the fourth round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins and in the 39th round of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft by the Minnesota Twins.

In 1971, Joe Theismann completed 148 of 278 passes for 2,440 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Joe Theismann was an all-star in both 1971 and 1973.

Joe Theismann left the CFL and joined the Redskins, where he served as the team's punt returner during his first season.

In 1978, Joe Theismann became the Redskins' starting quarterback, succeeding Billy Kilmer.

In 1982, Joe Theismann led the Redskins to their first championship in 40 years against the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII.

Joe Theismann led the team to an appearance in Super Bowl XVIII the following year, and would go on to set several Redskins franchise records, including most career passing attempts, most career passing completions and most career passing yards, while throwing 160 touchdown passes, with 138 interceptions.

Joe Theismann was named NFL MVP in 1983 by four organizations.

Joe Theismann earned the Player of the Game Award in the second of his two Pro Bowl appearances.

Joe Theismann punted once in his career, for one yard against the Chicago Bears.

However, on at least one occasion, Joe Theismann wore a helmet with a more standard facemask.

On November 18,1985, Joe Theismann suffered a comminuted compound fracture of the tibia and fibula in his right leg when he was sacked by linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson.

The Monday Night Football announcer team of Frank Gifford, O J Simpson and Joe Namath had correctly inferred from the start that Taylor was calling for help.

The compound fracture of the tibia and fibula led to insufficient bone growth during Joe Theismann's recovery, leaving his right leg shorter than his left.

Joe Theismann's injury was highlighted in the film The Blind Side as the reason that, after the quarterback, one of the highest paid football players is the left tackle, who protects a right-handed quarterback's blind side.

However, unlike Joe Theismann, Smith managed to play an additional season two years later in 2020.

Joe Theismann made his season debut against the Los Angeles Rams and won the Comeback Player of the Year award.

Joe Theismann retired one month after being released by the team.

In 1985, Joe Theismann helped call Super Bowl XIX for ABC alongside Frank Gifford and Don Meredith, becoming only the second player to do commentary on a Super Bowl telecast while still an active player at the time.

Joe Theismann served as a color commentator on regional CBS NFL coverage in 1986 and 1987, then worked on ESPN's Sunday Night Football telecasts from 1988 to 2005, and on their Monday Night Football coverage in 2006.

Joe Theismann rejected an offer to work on the network's college football coverage.

Joe Theismann has since done a number of Washington Redskins pre-season games on CSN.

On September 16,2009, the NFL Network announced that Joe Theismann would analyze game films on the show Playbook, airing Thursday and Friday nights at 6 pm Eastern.

On January 9,2010, Theismann and his former head coach Joe Gibbs served as color commentators, along with play-by-play man Tom Hammond, for the Saturday AFC wild card game between the New York Jets and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Joe Theismann co-hosted NFL games on NBC in 2010, and co-hosted NFL Network's No Huddle in 2011.

Joe Theismann has occasionally acted, although most appearances are as himself or as himself in a fictional context.

Joe Theismann appeared as himself, as part of a buyer group for the fictional "New York Hawks" football team on the TV series Necessary Roughness and on the post-Super Bowl episode "Operation: Broken Feather" of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Joe Theismann was ordered to pay nearly $1 million of marital property and $3,500 a month in alimony.

Joe Theismann received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Tom Landry in 1983.

Joe Theismann was inducted into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1997.

In 2011, Joe Theismann was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

On September 5,2014, Joe Theismann was honored by the Ride of Fame as they christened a double decker sightseeing bus in Washington DC dedicated to him and his achievements.

Joe Theismann expressed disappointment at the way he was treated during his time in the league and left the team when it was folded into the Virginia Destroyers in January 2011.