Pat Fischer

Patrick Fischer (January 2, 1940 – October 8, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1961 to 1967, and the Washington Redskins from 1968 to 1977. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Fischer attended Westside High School in Omaha and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. At Nebraska, he played safety, tailback, and quarterback.^[1]

Fischer was pursued by both the National Football League and the American Football League, albeit late due to concerns over his size. He was selected by the by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 17th round of the 1961 NFL draft.^[2] He was also recruited by the Dallas Texans. He described the latter as a “fallback. I thought the NFL was the better league. If I didn’t make the Cardinals, I could always go on and try out for the Chiefs." Fischer was used for occasional kick returns in his rookie season and he recorded no defensive statistics that year. That would change in his second season, in limited form. In the September 16 game against Philadelphia, he recorded his first interception off quarterback Sonny Jurgensen.^[3][4] He did not play again for eight weeks. He recorded two more interceptions that season. He made improvement in time with the 1963 season, which saw him record an interception in seven of the 10 games he played, which included a two-interception game on December 8 against Philadelphia.^[5] Fischer played in nine games the next year but recorded an interception in each one for a total of ten, which included two games on multiple picks and touchdowns in back-to-back games.

Injuries limited Fischer in 1966, where he had just one interception. Fischer had disputes with Cardinal head coach Charley Winner that influenced him to leave the Cardinals in free agency. Fischer signed with Washington as a free agent in 1968. In the first of only four times the NFL exercised the Rozelle rule, the Cardinals received a 1969 second-round selection (35th overall–Rolf Krueger) and a 1970 third-round pick (69th overall–Colorado defensive back Eric Harris) as compensation.^[6][7][8] He was a 1969 Pro Bowler. The 1971 season saw the arrival of George Allen as head coach, and he instituted an approach to using veteran players exclusively to the point where his teams would be dubbed the "Over-the-Hill Gang", as the average age of starters was over the age of 30. Fischer would play a key part for the team in the following years.

In 1972, the Redskins won the NFC Championship Game of the 1972–73 NFL playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys, when they limited Roger Staubach, their quarterback, to only 9 completions in 20 attempts for 98 passing yards and three allowed sacks, Fischer and Mike Bass, the other cornerback, being particularly successful in shutting down their wide receivers. But though the Redskin defense allowed only 69 net passing yards, it could not stop the running game of the Miami Dolphins (184 rushing yards) as the Dolphins won Super Bowl VII.

Fischer recorded his first and only playoff interception in 1974 against the Rams in a 19–10 loss in the Divisional Round.^[9] Fischer would record his last interception on December 5, 1976, against the New York Jets. He would play a couple of games in the 1977 season but not record a statistic in any of them. A back injury led to his retirement that year.

Fischer finished his 17-year career with 56 interceptions, and he ranks seventh all-time in Redskins career interceptions with 27 and fourth all-time with 412 career interception return yards. The 56 interceptions were tied for 6th most in NFL history. In a near half-century since his retirement, he still ranks among the top 20 all-time.^[10] At the time of his retirement, Fischer had played in 213 NFL games, then a record for a cornerback. He was well known for his strong tackling skills despite his diminutive size. Some of Fischer's most memorable defensive match-ups occurred against Philadelphia Eagles receiver Harold Carmichael who stood eleven inches taller than Fischer. Fischer's mantra "get a leg up and you own him" is used today to motivate and teach smaller defensive backs how to defend taller wide receivers.

Fischer, alongside fellow Cardinal safety Larry Wilson were prolific defenders, and the Cardinals, in attempting to deal with the problem of having a defensive hole left by a charging Wilson in the safety blitz, found a way to try and deal with the problem in the "Bump and run coverage", in which Fischer would physically harass receivers. Fischer wasn't the first to utilize the tactic, as it started with Willie Brown early in the decade of the 1960s, but Fischer and defensive coordinator Chuck Drulis utilized the coverage to great effect.^[11][12]

In the late 1980s, NFL Films named Fischer as the Redskins All-Time Neutralizer sponsored by Tums. After retiring from the Redskins, Fischer worked as a stockbroker and owned a successful real estate business.^[13] In 2003, he was named to the Professional Football Researchers Association Hall of Very Good in the association's inaugural HOVG class.^[14]

Fischer was nicknamed "The Mouse" for his relatively small size.^[15]

Fischer had two children.^[13]

In 2014, it was reported that Fischer was suffering from "dementia, cognitive decline, and severe memory loss"^[16] and was residing in an assisted-living facility in Ashburn, Virginia.^[13][17] Fischer died in Ashburn on October 8, 2024, at the age of 84.^[13]

• List of NCAA major college yearly punt and kickoff return leaders
• List of National Football League career interceptions leaders

• Pat Fischer at Pro-Football-Reference.com