Joseph Anthony Pisarcik (born July 2, 1952) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for eight seasons, from 1977 through 1984 after playing high school football at West Side Central Catholic H. S. (later Bishop O'Reilly, now closed), and

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

. His first professional team was the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, where he played from 1974 to 1976. He began his NFL career with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and is best remembered for his role in the November 19, 1978, game where the Giants, ahead 17–12 with only seconds to play and their opponent out of time-outs, lost after his handoff (a play called by

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

over Pisarcik's objections) to

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...

was fumbled and returned for a touchdown by

Herman Edwards Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Phil ...

of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

. The play has since been referred to as "The Fumble" by Giants fans and "

The Miracle at the Meadowlands The Miracle at the Meadowlands was a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards of the Philadelphia Eagles that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978, National Football League (NFL) game against the New York Giants in ...

" by Eagles fans, and it was instrumental in making the

Quarterback kneel In American football and Canadian football, a quarterback kneel, also called taking a knee, genuflect offense, kneel-down offense, or victory formation, occurs when the quarterback immediately kneels to the ground, ending the play on contact, ...

(also known as "taking a knee") a routine play for running down the clock at the end of a game. Pisarcik was traded to the Eagles in 1980 for a sixth round pick, primarily serving as the backup to QB

Ron Jaworski Partner owner , highlights= * Pro Bowl (1980) * Bert Bell Award (1980) * Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame ;NFL record * Longest touchdown pass: 99 yards (tied) , statlabel1= TD– INT , statvalue1=179–164 , statlabel2=Yards , statvalue2=28,19 ...

. He stayed with the Eagles until retiring after the 1984 season. A resident of

Mount Laurel, New Jersey Mount Laurel is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the South Jersey region. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 41,864, reflecting an increase of 1 ...

, Pisarcik has five children: Kristin, Lindsey, Jake, Joseph and Katie. Jake is an offensive lineman for the University of Oregon. Pisarcik served as the CEO of the NFL Alumni Association in Newark. He retired in April 2017. Pisarcik was later sued by three women who alleged sexual harassment. Dobuzinskis, Alex
"NFL Alumni Association's Ex-CEO Accused of Sexual Harassment"
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References

* December 21, 2001
Go, Joe, Go!
''Philadelphia Business Journal''. 1952 births Living people People from Kingston, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football quarterbacks New Mexico State Aggies football players New York Giants players Philadelphia Eagles players Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football quarterbacks American players of Canadian football American people of Polish descent People from Mount Laurel, New Jersey Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey {{Canadianfootball-quarterback-stub

See also

References