Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA), is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He was born to an Austrian father, Joseph John Thiesmann an a Hungarian mother, Olga Tobias and was raised in South River, New Jersey. He played football for the University of Notre Dame and was a runner-up for the 1970 Heisman Trophy which went to Jim Plunkett of Stanford University. Late in the season, his hallmates in Zahm Hall hung an enormous banner out of a 4th story window proclaiming, "Theisman for Heisman", (sic) changing the original pronunciation of his surname, "THEEZ-man," to rhyme with "Heisman", which he has used since During his collegiate career, the smallish Theismann (just 6'-0", 180 lb/1.83 m, 82 kg), led the Fighting Irish to a 20-3-2 record. He still holds the school record for most passing yards in a single game with 526 against USC in a torrential downpour in 1970.