Every Chicago Bears starting QB in team history
By Ryan Heckman
This is not a list most Chicago Bears fans are proud of.
It is a topic that generally draws more angst and pain than it does sweet nostalgia.
No, the Bears have not had a history of positive things to come out of the quarterback position. Although they are the league's oldest franchise, having been founded by the great George Halas back in 1920, the Bears might also boast the saddest history when it comes to the most important position in the game.
From Pard Pearce, to Sid Luckman and Ed Brown, to Billy Wade and Bobby Douglass, all the way to Jim McMahon, Erik Kramer, Jay Cutler, Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields, the Bears have seen just about everything out of their quarterbacks -- except, of course, what fans have long hoped for: a true franchise quarterback.
It's somewhat comical that the Bears, of all teams, have yet to find a guy they can label as such and, the best they've been able to do is either Luckman or Cutler, and each of them have weaknesses or asterisks one could point out.
In the end, Bears fans have had to endure a long, hard history at the quarterback position. And, because we're all gluttons for punishment (or rather, history buffs of the game), let's take a trip down memory lane as we list each and every player to start for the Bears, under center.
Every Chicago Bears starting QB in team history
Before we head into the deep list of passers, let's remember one thing about how football was played early on in the league's lifetime. Players were often utilized at multiple positions. Because of this, for the first few decades, it was much more difficult to distinguish between a player "starting" at one position or another.
For that reason, if any of the data looks different from other outlets, consider the fact that many of these players, pre-1960, were seen in a lot of action at more than one position. Some players suited up and played quarterback, halfback, kicker and punter, for example. Many played a combination of multiple positions, including both sides of the ball.
With that in mind, let's get this ball rolling.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 1920-1929
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Pard Pearce (1920-1922) | 16 (16) |
Jimmy Conzelman (1920) | 3 (3) |
Joey Sternaman (1922-1930) | 60 (60) |
Johnny Bryan (1922-1927) | 12 (12) |
Milton Romney (1926-1928) | 16 (16) |
Fun fact: Joey Sternaman scored 20 rushing touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns, one punt return touchdown while making 13 field goals in addition to his quarterback duties during his career with Chicago.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 1930-1939
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Carl Brumbaugh (1930-1938) | 24 (24) |
Keith Molesworth (1931-1937) | 26 (26) |
Bernie Masterson (1934-1940) | 35 (37) |
Gene Ronzani (1933-1938, 1944-1945) | 3 (6) |
Ray Buivid (1937-1938) | 6 (6) |
Sid Luckman (1939-1950) | 7 (83) |
Fun fact (or not so fun): Bernie Masterson's career completion percentage was just 38.1 percent, per Sports Reference.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 1940-1949
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Sid Luckman (1939-1950) | 76 (83) |
Bernie Masterson (1934-1940) | 2 (37) |
Charlie O'Rourke (1942) | 1 (1) |
Bob Snyder (1939-1943) | 1 (1) |
Gene Ronzani (1933-1938, 1944-1945) | 3 (6) |
Johnny Long (1944-1945) | 1 (1) |
Tom Farris (1946-1947) | 3 (3) |
Noah Mullins (1946-1948) | 3 (3) |
Mike Jarmoluk (1946-1947) | 3 (3) |
Mike Holovak (1947-1948) | 2 (2) |
Johnny Lujack (1948-1951) | 11 (32) |
Bobby Lane (1948) | 1 (1) |
George Blanda (1949-1958) | 2 (23) |
Fun fact: Sid Luckman was voted to a whopping five All Pro First Team selections.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 1950-1959
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Johnny Lujack (1948-1951) | 21 (32) |
Steve Romanik (1950-1953) | 9 (9) |
Bob Williams (1951-1952, 1955) | 7 (7) |
George Blanda (1949-1958) | 21 (23) |
Zeke Bratkowski (1954-1960) | 15 (16) |
Ed Brown (1954-1961) | 50 (66) |
Fun fact: Ed Brown's 1956 season saw him lead the league in completion percentage (57.1), touchdown percentage (6.5), yards per attempt (9.9), air yards per attempt (8.0), yards per completion (17.4), and quarterback rating (83.1).
Bears starting quarterbacks from 1960-1969
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Ed Brown (1954-1961) | 16 (66) |
Zeke Bratkowski (1954-1960) | 1 (16) |
Billy Wade (1961-1966) | 49 (49) |
Rudy Bukich (1962-1968) | 30 (30) |
Jack Concannon (1967-1971) | 24 (40) |
Larry Rakestraw (1966-1968) | 4 (4) |
Virgil Carter (1968-1969, 1976) | 7 (7) |
Bobby Douglass (1969-1975) | 7 (45) |
Fun fact: Billy Wade was the no. 1 overall pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1952 NFL Draft and spent seven seasons with the team before joining Chicago.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 1970-1979
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Jack Concannon (1967-1971) | 16 (40) |
Bobby Douglass (1969-1975) | 38 (45) |
Kent Nix (1970-1971) | 4 (4) |
Gary Huff (1973-1976) | 22 (22) |
Bob Avellini (1975-1984) | 47 (50) |
Mike Phipps (1977-1981) | 14 (20) |
Vince Evans (1977-1983) | 3 (32) |
Fun fact (or not so fun): Gary Huff threw only 16 touchdowns versus 50 interceptions in his 22 starts with the Bears.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 1980-1989
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Vince Evans (1977-1983) | 29 (32) |
Mike Phipps (1977-1981) | 6 (20) |
Jim McMahon (1982-1988) | 61 (61) |
Bob Avellini (1975-1984) | 3 (50) |
Steve Fuller (1984-1986) | 11 (11) |
Rusty Lisch (1984) | 1 (1) |
Greg Landry (1984) | 1 (1) |
Mike Tomczak (1985-1990) | 29 (31) |
Doug Flutie (1986-1987) | 1 (1) |
Mike Hohensee (1987) | 2 (2) |
Steve Bradley (1987) | 1 (1) |
Jim Harbaugh (1987-1993) | 7 (65) |
Fun fact: Jim McMahon, the Bears' only Super Bowl-winning quarterback, regularly wore sunglasses due to an accident that happened when he was six years old which resulted in damaging the retina in his right eye.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 1990-1999
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Jim Harbaugh (1987-1993) | 58 (65) |
Mike Tomczak (1985-1990) | 2 (31) |
Peter Tom Willis (1990-1993) | 3 (3) |
Will Furrer (1992) | 1 (1) |
Steve Walsh (1994-1995) | 11 (11) |
Erik Kramer (1994-1998) | 46 (46) |
Dave Krieg (1996) | 12 (12) |
Rick Mirer (1997) | 3 (3) |
Steve Stenstrom (1996-1998) | 7 (7) |
Moses Moreno (1998) | 1 (1) |
Shane Matthews (1996-2001) | 7 (15) |
Cade McNown (1999-2000) | 6 (15) |
Jim Miller (1999-2002) | 3 (26) |
Fun fact (or not so fun): Rick Mirer cost the Bears' a first-round pick (no. 11 overall) but only went on to start three games for the team.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 2000-2009
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Cade McNown | 9 (15) |
Jim Miller | 23 (26) |
Shane Matthews | 8 (15) |
Chris Chandler (2002-2003) | 13 (13) |
Henry Burris (2002) | 1 (1) |
Kordell Stewart (2003) | 7 (7) |
Rex Grossman (2003-2008) | 31 (31) |
Craig Krenzel (2004) | 5 (5) |
Chad Hutchinson (2004) | 5 (5) |
Jonathan Quinn (2004) | 3 (3) |
Brian Griese (2006-2007) | 6 (6) |
Kyle Orton (2005-2008) | 33 (33) |
Jay Cutler (2009-2016) | 16 (102) |
Fun fact (or not so fun): Rex Grossman turned the ball over 28 times during the Bears' 2006 season which saw the team reach Super Bowl XLI.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 2010-2019
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Jay Cutler (2009-2016) | 86 (102) |
Todd Collins (2010) | 1 (1) |
Caleb Hanie (2009-2011) | 4 (4) |
Josh McCown (2011, 2013) | 7 (7) |
Jason Campbell (2012) | 1 (1) |
Jimmy Clausen (2014-2015) | 2 (2) |
Matt Barkley (2016) | 6 (6) |
Brian Hoyer (2016) | 5 (5) |
Mike Glennon (2017) | 4 (4) |
Mitchell Trubisky (2017-2020) | 41 (50) |
Chase Daniel (2018-2019) | 3 (3) |
Fun fact: Jay Cutler remains the Bears' all-time leading passer in franchise history with 23,443 yards.
Bears starting quarterbacks from 2020-Present
Name (Time spent with CHI) | Starts this decade (career starts with CHI) |
|---|---|
Mitchell Trubisky (2017-2020) | 9 (50) |
Nick Foles (2020-2021) | 8 (8) |
Andy Dalton (2021) | 6 (6) |
Justin Fields (2021-2023) | 38 (38) |
Trevor Siemian (2022) | 1 (1) |
Nathan Peterman (2022-2023) | 1 (1) |
Tyson Bagent (2023) | 4 (4) |
Fun fact: Justin Fields came within 64 rushing yards (1,143) of breaking Lamar Jackson's single-season rushing record by a quarterback (1,206).
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All data retrieved from Sports Reference LLC