Dallas Cowboys: 15 greatest quarterbacks in franchise history

There’s nothing harder than trying to follow in the footsteps of greatness. We’ve seen it time and again when an elite player walks away and a younger player comes in trying to replace them. The new starter is usually subjected to a lot of scrutinies, which is exactly what happened to Danny White, who had quite the act to follow, as he was replacing Roger Staubach.

An Arizona State product who was selected by Dallas in the third round of the 1974 NFL Draft, White was also an accomplished punter in addition to his talent under center.

That led to him serving as the primary punter from 1976 through 1979, which was the last season Staubach played. As a punter, White averaged more than 40 yards per kick and had a long of 73 yards in 1979.

Once No. 12 retired, he got his chance to start and he did nothing but win. In his first four seasons as a starter, White won at least 11 games three times. He also guided them to the playoffs five times in his first six seasons as the starter.

Unfortunately, he never won the big game on his own, as the only Super Bowl win White was a part of came in 1977 when Staubach was still under center. He remained with the team until 1988 and was nearly a complete bridge between Staubach and Troy Aikman, who arrived in 1989.

Overall, White was 62-30 as the starter and tossed 21,959 yards with 155 touchdowns. When he retired, he was No. 2 in franchise history for yardage and No. 1 in touchdowns. However, he has since been passed but is third in touchdown passes and fourth in yardage.