| No. 8 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Safety,Quarterback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | (1980-04-21)April 21, 1980 (age 44) Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Boca Raton (FL) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Ohio State | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2002: 6th round, 205th pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
| Career Arena League statistics | |||||||||||||
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Steve Bellisari (born April 21, 1980) is an American former professionalfootballquarterback. He is best known for his time playing football atOhio State University from 1998 to 2001.
Bellisari, aspecial teams player and adefensive back his first year, replacedJoe Germaine as the Ohio Statestarting quarterback in 1999. He had a stellarprep career atBoca Raton High School
In contrast to the accurate Germaine, Bellisari was a more athletic, yet at times erratic thrower. Notably, however, Bellisari's interception rate was 3.82%, lower than more highly recognized Ohio State quarterbacksArt Schlichter,Mike Tomczak,Greg Frey, andBobby Hoying. Bellisari experienced an increasingly controversial tenure as Ohio State's starting quarterback, culminating in a one-game suspension towards the end of his senior season following anarrest fordrunk driving.[1] He was re-instated before the Michigan game, but did not start.[1][2] Bellisari traveled with the team to the2002 Outback Bowl againstSouth Carolina, where he finished his career as a substitute, leading Ohio State back from a large deficit to tie the game before giving up an interception that allowed South Carolina to kick a winning field goal.[3]
| Year | Team | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 1998 | Ohio State | 3 | 5 | 60.0 | 24 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 100.3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1999 | Ohio State | 101 | 224 | 45.1 | 1,616 | 7.2 | 12 | 9 | 115.3 | 116 | 332 | 2.9 | 2 |
| 2000 | Ohio State | 163 | 310 | 52.6 | 2,319 | 7.5 | 13 | 13 | 120.9 | 107 | 179 | 1.7 | 1 |
| 2001 | Ohio State | 98 | 185 | 53.0 | 1,599 | 8.6 | 8 | 6 | 133.4 | 72 | 97 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Career | 365 | 724 | 50.4 | 5,558 | 7.7 | 33 | 28 | 122.2 | 295 | 608 | 2.1 | 5 | |
Source:[4]
Bellisari was drafted by theSt. Louis Rams in the2002 NFL draft and converted tosafety.[5] After being out of football, in 2005 Bellisari played for theDayton Warbirds of theNIFL, an indoor football league, and later moved up to theManchester Wolves in the second half of the2005 af2 season, leading them into the playoffs with four straight victories to finish out the year. Seldom turning the ball over in his stay with the Wolves, Bellisari was driving the Wolves down the field late in the fourth quarter when he threw his last pass as a Wolf, a game-sealing interception to theFlorida Firecats. The final score wasFlorida 40, Manchester 39.
| Year | Team | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | TD | ||
| 2007 | New Orleans | 190 | 304 | 62.5 | 2,262 | 47 | 12 | 107.37 | 27 | 50 | 7 |
| 2008 | New Orleans | 25 | 46 | 54.3 | 285 | 5 | 3 | 73.19 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Career | 215 | 350 | 61.4 | 2,547 | 52 | 15 | 102.88 | 29 | 55 | 8 | |
Stats from ArenaFan:[6]