Hall of Fame
Hart was a Saluki great who gained legendary status as a member of the St. Louis football Cardinals. Upon retirement from the NFL, he served as athletic director for Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 1989-1999.
From 1974 to 1976, he guided the Cardinals to three straight ten-plus-win seasons along with back-to-back division crowns in 1974 and 1975, leading the "Cardiac Cards" to ten game-winning drives during that three-year span. However, in the postseason Hart went a combined 40 for 81 in passing with two touchdowns and four interceptions, and the Cardinals were eliminated in the first round twice.
In 1976, he threw for a career high completion percentage of 56.2%, complementing that with 2,946 yards for 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, with the team going 10-4. By the time the Cardinals returned to the playoffs again at the conclusion of the 1982-83 season, Neil Lomax had already established himself as the starter and Hart did not play. He stayed with the team for one more season as the back-up to Lomax before being released after the 1983 season. Hart was signed by the Redskins to back up Joe Theismann for the 1984 season, playing little in that season before retiring in the off-season.
In his career, he was also selected to the Pro Bowl four times. In the 1977 Pro Bowl, Hart threw five interceptions, the most in the Pro Bowl's history. He went 87–88–5 in his career, was sacked 243 times, and played in 201 games. As of 2013, he was 25th in passing yards, 29th in victories, 34th in completions, and 32nd in passing touchdowns, though he is 10th in passes intercepted (including a 30-interception season in 1967, the sixth player in history to achieve this dubious benchmark), 73rd in being sacked, and 161st in Passer rating. He has the most passing attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, interceptions (both career and single season), wins, and losses as a Cardinal.
Hart was named the NFC Player of the Year by UPI, All-NFC and second team All-Pro for the 1974 season. Hart was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 for his contribution to the sport of football.