Joe Theisman was a star all-three in high school and then had an outstanding career as a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. After graduating from college, he turned down the NFL and instead signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. After a few years in the CFL, Theisman finally joined the NFL as a member of the Washington Redskins. Over the years, he fought his way to the starting quarterback job, led the team to two Super Bowl appearances, won one and put up big numbers in the process.

However, one of the things Joe Theisman is best known for is the horrifying injury that ended his season and career.

It happened at a Monday Night Football game on November 18, 1985 against the New York Giants. The Redskins were running a flea play and the Giants were blitzing at the same time. By the time Theismann got the ball back, he was already pretty much fired. Star New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor tackled Theisman, landing on his lower right leg in the process. Taylor was joined at Theisman’s firing by fellow Giants players Harry Carson and Gary Reasons. Taylor immediately got to his feet and began calling for help from the Giants’ sideline. Many people weren’t exactly sure what happened at the time, but ABC began replaying the play from the cameras view on the opposite side of the field and the entire country got a clear view of the broken tibia and fibula of Theisman at its bottom. leg. The replay was played over and over again, and is still considered one of the most famous NFL movie clips in existence.

This play effectively ended Theismann’s career and he almost immediately made the transition to the broadcast booth. He has been advertised as part of a Super Bowl broadcast team, has been part of a long-running part of ESPN’s Sunday Night Football team, and has also served as a studio host on the NFL Network. Joe Theismamn has been a part of the sports scene in the United States since the late 1960s when he was a quarterback at Notre Dame, but it was that play on Monday Night Football in 1985 that made him more famous than anything else.