The diminutive Theismann was highly touted coming out of Notre Dame in 1970 having led the Irish to a Cotton Bowl championship.

In 1969, Theismann led the Irish to a number five ranking, but lost to the University of Texas in the 1970 Cotton Bowl Classic, 21 – 17.

In his rookie year, Theismann quarterbacked the Argonauts to a 10-4 record, led the league's Eastern Conference in passing statistics and won a berth in the Grey Cup championship game in Vancouver, British Columbia versus the Calgary Stampeders ( 59th Grey Cup ).

Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann finished the season as the top rated passer in the NFC, completing 161 out of 252 ( 63 percent ) of his passes for 2, 033 yards and 13 touchdowns, while also rushing for 150 yards.

Aided by a 27-yard completion from quarterback Joe Theismann to tight end Rick Walker, four runs and a 15-yard reception by running back John Riggins, and a 12-yard run from Theismann himself, the Redskins marched 80 yards in 11 plays to score on wide receiver Alvin Garrett's 4-yard touchdown reception.

After the Redskins got a first down, Theismann had a pass blocked at the line of scrimmage by Kim Bokamper.

Bokamper nearly intercepted the pass in the Redskins ' end zone but for a timely move by Theismann to knock the ball out of Bokamper's hands.

On their next drive, the Redskins moved the ball 73 yards in 12 plays to the Raiders 7-yard line, with Joe Theismann completing a 17-yard pass to receiver Alvin Garrett and three passes to tight end Clint Didier for 50 yards.

Frank Gifford was the play-by-play announcer, while then-ABC Sports analyst Don Meredith and then-Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann served as color commentators.

* November 18, 1985 – Giants ' linebacker Lawrence Taylor sacks Redskins ' quarterback Joe Theismann severely breaking his leg and ending his NFL career.

During the season Joe Theismann broke his leg during a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants, but the Redskins still won the game with Jay Schroeder at quarterback.

The Redskins ' Super Bowl victories were won featuring Joe Theismann, Doug Williams, and Mark Rypien — capable players who were very successful along with their strong supporting cast.

Former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann joined Papa and Millen in the booth for the 2010-11 season.

ESPN analyst Joe Theismann, himself a former quarterback with the Washington Redskins ( whose own career was ended by a gruesome broken leg against the New York Giants on November 18, 1985 ), praised Palmer for his mental toughness in taking hits and not being gun-shy about staying in the pocket where chances of injury are often high.

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

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

Joe Theismann was returning punts for the Redskins at this time.

Typically, by the mid-1980s only placekickers and punters wore the one-bar face mask, a notable exception being Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann.

While Sapp was competing on Dancing with the Stars, former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and current NFL Today analyst Bill Cowher along with former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann filled in.

The game begins at the end of the previous season, when Quentin Sands of the New York Nightmare lands a devastating, career-ending hit on your team's star quarterback ( like Taylor's infamous sack of Washington Redskins QB Joe Theismann ), as the team is demoted to Division 3.

Meanwhile, Theismann, the first starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl while wearing a single digit number ( 7 ), finished 15 out of 23 for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 2 interceptions.

Though he had set so many records on the season, 1970 had been the " Year of the Quarterback ," and Plunkett beat out Notre Dame's Joe Theismann and Archie Manning of Ole Miss to win the award.

This would be the only ABC Super Bowl for Gifford as play-by-play announcer, the final game for Don Meredith and the second ( and last ) time a commentator for the Super Bowl ( Theismann ) was an active player ( Jack Kemp in Super Bowl II was the only other active player to provide commentary ).

The only other NFL coach to approach this distinction is Joe Gibbs who coached four Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks ( Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien ), winning three times.

His final broadcast was Super Bowl XIX with Frank Gifford and Joe Theismann, which was ABC's first Super Bowl.

On February 8, 2006, it was announced that Tony Kornheiser would join Mike Tirico and Joe Theismann in the broadcast booth during Monday Night Football beginning in the 2006 NFL season.

Then on third down, Theismann made a key pass completion to Brown to the 9-yard line.

The defense was prepared for the play, as Theismann had successfully completed an identical screen pass to Joe Washington for a 67-yard gain in their 37-35 victory over the Raiders on October 2.

Helping Musburger were reporters Irv Cross and Will McDonough and analysts Jimmy " The Greek " Snyder, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Theismann and Dan Dierdorf ( in his final CBS assignment before moving on to ABC's Monday Night Football for the following season ).

Joe Theismann on Washington training camps in 1983.

As Theismann lay on the field, a horrified Taylor frantically screamed and waved for emergency medical technicians.

Then on their next drive, Theismann completed a 70-yard touchdown pass to Brown, giving Washington a 21-0 lead with just over a minute left until the final period.

# On second down and 10 on the San Francisco 45-yard line, Theismann threw a long incompletion intended for wide receiver Art Monk, but cornerback Eric Wright was called for pass interference at the 18-yard line.

Theismann set school records for passing yards in a season ( 2, 429 ) and touchdowns in a season ( 16 ).

Also in 1998, Paul Maguire joined Patrick and Theismann in the booth after re-joining ESPN after several years as a color commentator for NBC.

Hammond teamed with Cris Collinsworth to call the secondary Saturday Wild Card playoff game for NBC each year, including Chiefs-Colts in January 2007, Redskins-Seahawks in 2008, and Falcons-Cardinals in 2009, but teamed with Joe Gibbs and Joe Theismann for the Jets-Bengals Wild Card playoff game in January 2010, as Cris Collinsworth partnered with Al Michaels in the 2009 season due to the retirement of John Madden after the 2008 season.

In an era when most quarterbacks had long since used variations of a double-bar facemask ( or even triple-bar facemasks ) that afforded more protection, Theismann refused to use anything but a one-bar facemask throughout his career.

Following his retirement from football, Theismann began a career as a sportscaster.

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

Quarterback Joe Theismann won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award for being second rated passer in the league behind Steve Bartkowski, completing 276 out of 459 ( 60. 1 percent ) of his passes for 3, 714 yards, 29 touchdowns, and only 11 interceptions.

While Theismann lasted just 3 seasons with Toronto ; he did lead the team to the Grey Cup game in 1971 and brought a great deal of attention to not only the Argos but the entire Canadian Football League.

As a starting quarterback, Theismann compiled a 20 – 3 – 2 record while throwing for 4, 411 yards and 31 touchdowns.