Lisch began his professional football career as the third-string quarterback with the
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
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
free safety in the last three games of the
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. 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: One year later, with both
Jim McMahon and
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. 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." That Monday, Lisch brought Ditka a
rosary prior to being released. It would be Lisch's final season in the NFL. == Personal life ==