The Quarterblackhole - Chicago Bears QB's 1951-Present

When the Chicago Bears take to the field for their season opener Sunday night in Green Bay before a national TV audience, they will lineup on offense for the first time with a new signal caller, quarterback Jay Cutler, who comes complete with something pretty much unknown in these parts --- Pro Bowl credentials.

Why is this so significant? Cutler will become the 56th player to take the field at the quarterback position for the team since Hall of Famer Sid Luckman retired after the 1950 season, and the 47th player to start at that position over the same period of time.

The list of players who have held the title of Chicago Bears quarterback over the last 58 seasons is hardly impressive. (In fact, it is downright discouraging once you hit the modern Super Bowl Era of 1966 to the present!)

The list includes only 4 men who have played in the Pro Bowl (the NFL's version of the All-Star Game) a total of 6 times with the team at that position (Johnny Lujack: 1950 & 1951; Ed Brown: 1955 & 1956; Billy Wade: 1963; and Jim McMahon: 1985), and only 1 player (McMahon) making a single Pro Bowl appearance at QB in a Bears uniform since 1963!

Oh, and yes George Blanda may be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but most certainly not due to his work as a Bears QB in the early 1950's! Blanda's rise to fame came after he went on to star for the Houston Oilers as a combination QB and kicker in the early to mid-1960's and then as a kicker for the Oakland Raiders from the late 1960's until he retired in the mid-1970's.

Coincidentally, the team has won just 2 NFL Championships throughout all those years, in 1963 and 1985 (Super Bowl XX), both of which featured Pro Bowl caliber performances by their quarterbacks.

So the very idea that the Chicago Bears, after all these years, have managed to obtain a quarterback with known star-quality is quite a big deal for their fans, as you might well imagine.

After all, how would you like to have sat through this mess for any significant portion of the last 58 years?...

CHICAGO BEARS QB'S After Sid Luckman Era (Retired after 1950 season):

Name, Seasons Played at QB with Team (Games at QB, Games Started at QB, Team Record in Games Started at QB, QB Rating as a Chicago Bear)

BOLD = Started at Least 1 Game as QB
* = All-Pro/Pro-Bowl (Each * is 1 Season Honored)
+ = Won NFL Championship (Each + is 1 Championship)
# = Hall of Famer

1. Johnny Lujack**, 1948-51 (45, 19, 13-6, 65.3)
2. George Blanda#, 1949, 50, 52-58 (115, 21, 8-12-1, 51.3)
3. Steve Romanik, 1950-53 (24, 8, 4-4, 33.6)
4. Bob Williams, 1951-52, 55 (29, 7, 3-4, 55.8)
5. Tommy O'Connell, 1953 (12, 0, --, 50.4)
6. Willie Thrower, 1953 (1, 0, --, 7.8)
7. Ed Brown**, 1954-61 (98, 67, 41-25-2, 62.5)
8. Zeke Bratkowski, 1954, 57-60 (59, 14, 9-5, 46.4)
9. Jim Haluska, 1956 (5, 0, --, 39.6)
10. Rudy Bukich, 1958-59, 62-68 (59, 30, 21-14-3, 72.9)
11. Billy Wade*+, 1961-66 (59, 49, 27-20-2, 73.6)
12. Larry Rakestraw, 1966-68 (13, 4, 0-4, 40.7)
13. Jack Concannon, 1967-71, (51, 40, 17-22-1, 55.6)
14. Virgil Carter, 1968-69, 76 (18, 7, 4-3, 57.4)
15. Bobby Douglass, 1969-75 (61, 45, 13-31-1, 47.5)
16. Kent Nix, 1970-71 (9, 4, 1-3, 40.1)
17. John Huarte, 1972 (2, 0, --, 47.9)
18. Gary Huff, 1973-76 (43, 22, 5-17, 49.8)
19. Joe Barnes, 1974 (3, 0, --, 0.9)
20. Bob Avellini, 1975-84 (73, 50, 23-27, 54.8)
21. Mike Phipps, 1977-81 (31, 20, 14-6, 57.1)
22. Vince Evans, 1977-83 (56, 32, 12-20, 57.3)
23. Jim McMahon*+, 1982-88 (66, 61, 46-15, 80.4)
24. Steve Fuller, 1984-86 (38, 11, 6-5, 72.4)
25. Rusty Lisch, 1984 (7, 1, 0-1, 35.1)
26. Greg Landry, 1984 (1, 1, 1-0, 66.5)
27. Mike Tomczak, 1985-90 (77, 31, 21-10, 62.5)
28. Doug Flutie, 1986-87 (5, 1, 1-0, 80.1)
29. Jim Harbaugh, 1987-93 (89, 65, 35-30, 74.2)
30. Mike Hohensee, 1987 (2, 2, 2-0, 92.1)
31. Steve Bradley, 1987 (1, 1, 0-1, 45.1)
32. Sean Payton, 1987 (3, 0, --, 27.3)
33. Peter Tom Willis, 1990-93 (21, 3, 0-3, 54.9)
34. Will Furrer, 1992 (2, 1, 0-1, 7.3)
35. Erik Kramer, 1994-98 (49, 46, 18-28, 80.7)
36. Steve Walsh, 1994-95 (13, 11, 8-3, 77.9)
37. Dave Kreig, 1996 (13, 12, 6-6, 76.3)
38. Shane Matthews, 1996, 99-2001 (21, 15, 8-7, 75.1)
39. Steve Stenstrom, 1996-98 (11, 7, 1-6, 67.1)
40. Rick Mirer, 1997 (7, 3, 0-3, 37.7)
41. Moses Moreno, 1998 (2, 1, 0-1, 62.7)
42. Cade McNown, 1999-2000 (25, 15, 3-12, 67.7)
43. Jim Miller, 1999-2002 (32, 26, 15-11, 76.7)
44. Mark Hartsell, 2000 (1, 0, --, 39.6)
45. Chris Chandler, 2002-03 (17, 13, 5-8, 69.8)
46. Henry Burris, 2002 (6, 1, 0-1, 28.4)
47. Cory Sauter, 2002 (1, 0, --, 85.0)
48. Kordell Stewart, 2003 (9, 7, 2-5, 56.8)
49. Rex Grossman, 2003-08 (36, 31, 19-12, 70.2)
50. Chad Hutchinson, 2004 (5, 5, 1-4, 73.6)
51. Craig Krenzel, 2004 (6, 5, 3-2, 52.5)
52. Jonathan Quinn, 2004 (5, 3, 0-3, 53.7)
53. Kyle Orton, 2005, 07-08 (33, 33, 21-12, 71.1)
54. Jeff Blake, 2005 (3, 0, --, 129.2)
55. Brian Griese, 2006-07 (13, 6, 3-3, 74.1)
56. Jay Cutler, 2009-? (TBD)

Jay Cutler's statistics with the Denver Broncos, 2006-08: 37, 37, 17-20, 87.1

He was selected for the 2008 Pro Bowl.

All statistics compiled from Pro-Football-Reference.com

[Please note that this list does not include players who primarily played other positions who may have thrown option passes or players who may have been on the roster as QB's without ever attempting at least 1 pass in an official game.]