Lusk (nicknamed "The Praying Tailback") was the first player to kneel in the end zone to pray following a touchdown.
He was the Eagles' 10th-round pick in 1976. The Eagles were without their first 3 picks that year due to past trades for Roman Gabriel and Bill Bergey. Still, they had 15 picks in the 17-round draft, but wasted 9 of them on players who never played a game in the NFL. A 10th player played 7 games the following season, but not for the Eagles.
So, Dick Vermeil's 1st draft boiled down to 5 players: Carl Hairston (7th round), FB Mike Hogan (9th), TE Richard Osborne (9th), Lusk (10th), and LB Terry Tautolo (13th). Only Hairston made long-term contributions.
Lusk played behind veteran HB Tom Sullivan and FB Mike Hogan in '76 and '77. Although Sullivan was traded after the 1977 season, Wilbert Montgomery had been drafted that year, and jumped over Lusk into the starting halfback job in 1978. Lusk was only used as a kick returner in '78 and had no rushes.
No matter, Lusk had planned to only play for 3 years, then enter the ministry. For the past 40 years, he was the pastor at a church in North Philadelphia.
