This really isn’t fair, but the countdown never promised justice. Danny White was a good NFL quarterback. He won a lot of games, regularly played on big playoff stages and, for the most part, represented himself well. He was even something of a two-way player, serving as both the Cowboys’ quarterback and punter for many years. Gosh, the game has changed. Can you imagine a NFL team using their starting quarterbacks as a punter?
White’s presence behind center for the Cowboys served as merciful proof of his predecessor’s, the haunting Roger Staubach’s, retirement. As the saying goes, you don’t want to be the guy to follow the legend. White, through no fault of his own, followed the legend. Spoiled by a thrilling decade with Staubach, Cowboys nation assumed White would be the air apparent. While solid, White’s game lacked spice and Staubach’s flair for the dramatic. He just wasn’t Roger the Dodger.
Most telling of the difference between mentor and protégé was White’s splendid inability to win big games. Where Staubach would pull Dallas from a burning building, Danny White would deliver the Cowboys onto the highlight reels of its opponents. White never led Dallas to a Super Bowl and was 0-3 in NFC Championship Games. Let’s reminisce, shall we? His Cowboys lost the 1980-81 NFC title game to the Eagles, sending Philadelphia to its first Super Bowl. A year later, “The Catch”, Joe Montana and the budding dynasty of the San Francisco 49ers felled White’s Cowboys. And the third…
White’s greatest act and single biggest reason he’s held in such high regard is the 1982-83 NFC Championship Game. It was White’s third consecutive NFC title game defeat, but unlike the previous two, he wasn’t around for the finish. After playing superbly horrible football amidst the mania that enveloped RFK Stadium, White dropped back for a pass and was pummeled by ‘Skins defensive end Dexter Manley. The hit, a signature play in ‘Skins history, knocked White out cold. He never returned to the game or any NFC Championship Game. It was essentially the end of the Cowboys’ 15-year run of seemingly never-ending greatness and the beginning of the greatest decade in ‘Skins and D.C. sports history.
Thank goodness Danny White dared to play quarterback and didn’t just stick to his punting gig.
Hail…Sons of Washington!
Check back on Super Bowl Sunday for the “best” and “worst” in Cowboys history
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