Christopher Dwight Isaac (May 15, 1959 – October 19, 2020) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

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 ...

with the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

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 ...

(CFL). He played

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 ...

for the

Eastern Kentucky Colonels The Eastern Kentucky Colonels are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), located in Richmond, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Confe ...

Career

After starring as a quarterback at

New Smyrna Beach High School New Smyrna Beach High School (NSBHS) is a public high school located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, United States. About The school mascot is the Barracuda, commonly referred to as the "Cuda." The high school opened in 1963 on what is now calle ...

in Florida, Isaac played

at Eastern Kentucky University from 1978 through 1981. In three of those years, the

Colonels Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel wa ...

appeared in the

NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was kn ...

game, winning in 1979. Isaac subsequently joined Ottawa of the CFL for the 1982 season. In his first start, he set the team record with 471 yards passing and tied a record with five touchdown passes. He finished the year with 18 touchdown passes and 3,408 passing yards, and won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and th ...

. He could not repeat this success, playing only one more year in the CFL, as he appeared in 11 games in 1983 and lost the starting quarterback job to

J.C. Watts Julius Caesar Watts Jr. (born November 18, 1957) is an American politician, clergyman, and athlete. Watts was a college football quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners and later played professionally in the Canadian Football League. He served in ...

. After his playing career ended, Isaac worked as an assistant coach at several high schools and colleges, including Bethune-Cookman College. He has also been a mathematics teacher at

Pine Ridge High School Pine Ridge High School is a public high school located in Deltona, Florida. It was built in 1994 and is located at 926 Howland Blvd, near S.R. 415. Pine Ridge High School's team mascot is the Panther and its colors are teal, black, and gold. Pin ...

Deltona, Florida Deltona is a city in central Florida and the most populous city in Volusia County. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Monroe along the St. Johns River in central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 93,692. The city ...

. Isaac was inducted to the Eastern Kentucky athletic hall of fame in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac, Chris 1959 births 2020 deaths Ottawa Rough Riders players Eastern Kentucky Colonels football players Canadian football quarterbacks American football quarterbacks People from New Smyrna Beach, Florida Sportspeople from Volusia County, Florida Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football coaches Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Players of American football from Florida