List of Chicago Bears starting quarterbacks
Updated: 11/6/2025, 1:10:42 AM Wikipedia source
These quarterbacks have started at least one game for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). They are listed in order of the date of each player's first start at quarterback for the Bears. The early era of the NFL and American football in general was not conducive to passing the football, with the forward pass not being legalized until the early 1900s and not fully adopted for many more years. Although the quarterback position has historically been the one to receive the snap and thus handle the football on every offensive play, the importance of the position during this era was limited by various rules, like having to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage before a forward pass could be attempted. These rules and the tactical focus on rushing the ball limited the importance of the quarterback position while enhancing the value of different types of backs, such as the halfback and the fullback. Some of these backs were considered triple-threat men, capable of rushing, passing or kicking the football, making it common for multiple players to attempt a pass during a game. As rules changed and the NFL began adopting a more pass-centric approach to offensive football, the importance of the quarterback position grew. Beginning in 1950, total wins and losses by a team's starting quarterback were tracked. Prior to 1950, the Bears had numerous players identified as playing the quarterback position. However, the combination of unreliable statistics in the early era of the NFL and the differences in the early quarterback position make tracking starts by quarterbacks impractical for this timeframe.
Tables
| Season(s) | Quarterback (games) | References |
| 1950 | Johnny Lujack (12) | |
| 1951 | Johnny Lujack (6) / Steve Romanik (6) | |
| 1952 | Bob Williams (7) / Steve Romanik (3) / George Blanda (2) | |
| 1953 | George Blanda (12) | |
| 1954 | George Blanda (7) / Zeke Bratkowski (5) | |
| 1955 | Ed Brown (12) | |
| 1956 | Ed Brown (12) | |
| 1957 | Ed Brown (8) / Zeke Bratkowski (4) | |
| 1958 | Ed Brown (11) / Zeke Bratkowski (1) | |
| 1959 | Ed Brown (10) / Zeke Bratkowski (2) | |
| 1960 | Ed Brown (11) / Zeke Bratkowski (1) | |
| 1961 | Billy Wade (9) / Ed Brown (5) | |
| 1962 | Billy Wade (14) | |
| 1963 | Billy Wade (14) | |
| 1964 | Billy Wade (10) / Rudy Bukich (4) | |
| 1965 | Rudy Bukich (12) / Billy Wade (2) | |
| 1966 | Rudy Bukich (14) | |
| 1967 | Jack Concannon (12) / Larry Rakestraw (2) | |
| 1968 | Jack Concannon (7) / Virgil Carter (5) / Larry Rakestraw (2) | |
| 1969 | Bobby Douglass (7) / Jack Concannon (5) / Virgil Carter (2) | |
| 1970 | Jack Concannon (13) / Bobby Douglass (1) | |
| 1971 | Bobby Douglass (7) / Kent Nix (4) / Jack Concannon (3) | |
| 1972 | Bobby Douglass (14) | |
| 1973 | Bobby Douglass (12) / Gary Huff (2) | |
| 1974 | Gary Huff (11) / Bobby Douglass (3) | |
| 1975 | Gary Huff (9) / Bob Avellini (4) / Bobby Douglass (1) | |
| 1976 | Bob Avellini (14) | |
| 1977 | Bob Avellini (14) | |
| 1978 | Bob Avellini (12) / Mike Phipps (4) | |
| 1979 | Mike Phipps (10) / Vince Evans (3) / Bob Avellini (3) | |
| 1980 | Vince Evans (10) / Mike Phipps (6) | |
| 1981 | Vince Evans (16) | |
| 1982 | Jim McMahon (7) / Bob Avellini (2) | |
| 1983 | Jim McMahon (13) / Vince Evans (3) | |
| 1984 | Jim McMahon (9) / Steve Fuller (4) / Rusty Lisch (1) / Bob Avellini (1) / Greg Landry (1) | |
| 1985 | Jim McMahon (11) / Steve Fuller (5) | |
| 1986 | Mike Tomczak (7) / Jim McMahon (6) / Steve Fuller (2) / Doug Flutie (1) | |
| 1987 | Jim McMahon (6) / Mike Tomczak (6) / Mike Hohensee (2) / Steve Bradley (1) | |
| 1988 | Jim McMahon (9) / Mike Tomczak (5) / Jim Harbaugh (2) | |
| 1989 | Mike Tomczak (11) / Jim Harbaugh (5) | |
| 1990 | Jim Harbaugh (14) / Mike Tomczak (2) | |
| 1991 | Jim Harbaugh (16) | |
| 1992 | Jim Harbaugh (13) / Peter Tom Willis (2) / Will Furrer (1) | |
| 1993 | Jim Harbaugh (15) / Peter Tom Willis (1) | |
| 1994 | Steve Walsh (11) / Erik Kramer (5) | |
| 1995 | Erik Kramer (16) | |
| 1996 | Dave Krieg (12) / Erik Kramer (4) | |
| 1997 | Erik Kramer (13) / Rick Mirer (3) | |
| 1998 | Erik Kramer (8) / Steve Stenstrom (7) / Moses Moreno (1) |
| Season(s) | Quarterback(s) |
| 1950 | Johnny Lujack (0–1) |
| 1956 | Ed Brown (0–1) |
| 1963 | Billy Wade (1–0) |
| 1977 | Bob Avellini (0–1) |
| 1979 | Mike Phipps (0–1) |
| 1984 | Steve Fuller (1–1) |
| 1985 | Jim McMahon (3–0) |
| 1986 | Doug Flutie (0–1) |
| 1987 | Jim McMahon (0–1) |
| 1988 | Mike Tomczak (1–0) / Jim McMahon (0–1) |
| 1990 | Mike Tomczak (1–1) |
| 1991 | Jim Harbaugh (0–1) |
| 1994 | Steve Walsh (1–1) |
| 2001 | Jim Miller (0–1) |
| 2005 | Rex Grossman (0–1) |
| 2006 | Rex Grossman (2–1) |
| 2010 | Jay Cutler (1–1) |
| 2018 | Mitchell Trubisky (0–1) |
| 2020 | Mitchell Trubisky (0–1) |
| Name | |
| GP | Games played |
| GS | Games started |
| W | Number of wins as starting quarterback |
| L | Number of losses as starting quarterback |
| T | Number of ties as starting quarterback |
| % | Winning percentage as starting quarterback |
| Name | Period | GP | GS | W | L | T | % |
| Jay Cutler | 2009 - 2016 | 102 | 102 | 51 | 51 | — | 500 |
| Ed Brown | 1955 - 1961 | 98 | 66 | 39 | 25 | 2 | 591 |
| Jim Harbaugh | 1988 - 1993 | 89 | 65 | 35 | 30 | — | 538 |
| Sid Luckman* | 1939 - 1949 | 128 | 61 | — | — | — | — |
| Jim McMahon | 1982 - 1988 | 66 | 61 | 46 | 15 | — | 754 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 2017 - 2020 | 51 | 50 | 29 | 21 | — | 580 |
| Name | Comp | Att | % | Yds | TD | Int |
| Jay Cutler | 2,020 | 3,271 | 61.8 | 23,443 | 154 | 109 |
| Jim Harbaugh | 1,023 | 1,759 | 58.2 | 11,567 | 50 | 56 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 1,010 | 1,577 | 64.1 | 10,609 | 64 | 37 |
| Erik Kramer | 913 | 1,557 | 58.6 | 10,582 | 63 | 45 |
| Sid Luckman | 904 | 1,744 | 51.8 | 14,686 | 137 | 132 |
| Jim McMahon | 874 | 1,513 | 57.8 | 11,203 | 67 | 56 |
References
- ProFootballHoF.comhttps://www.profootballhof.com/blogs/2018/07/blogs-stories-from-the-pro-football-hall-of-fame-archives-passing-through-time-a-1930s-rule-change/
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- Packers.comhttps://www.packers.com/history/hof/paul-hornung
- Pro-Football-Reference.comhttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/gnb/career-passing.htm
- "Chicago Bears release quarterback Jay Cutler"https://www.nfl.com/news/chicago-bears-release-quarterback-jay-cutler-0ap3000000791875
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- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1993.htm
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- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1996.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1997.htm
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- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1999.htm
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- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2002.htm
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- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2004.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2005.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2006.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2007.htm
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- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2009.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2010.htm
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- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2012.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2014.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2013.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2015.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2016.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2017.htm
- Pro Football Referencehttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/2018.htm
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