The Dallas Cowboys are a franchise that has historically put together winning teams, but one of the few dark ages this team has had to sit through was the late 1980s. The end of the Tom Landry era was particularly hard for many fans to stomach.
Part of the reason Landry looked so old-school in those years was poor quarterback play. Once Danny White stopped playing at a high level due to age and injuries, there were some less-than-dominant names who tried (and failed) to keep Landry's teams competitive.
Perhaps the most infamous of those names, due to a combination of both his poor play and how many starts he earned in the late 80s, is former mid-round draft pick Steve Pelluer. It doesn't get much worse under center for the Cowboys.
Steve Pelluer is the worst Dallas Cowboys quarterback ever
Pelluer was a fairly successful college quarterback at Washington, as his accuracy helped him complete 67% of his passes during his final season with the Huskies. In the early 80s college football landscape, that number was exceedingly impressive for a quarterback.
Pelluer was drafted in the fifth round of the 1984 NFL Draft by Dallas, though the team he entered was far from the Landry glory days. Not only was Roger Staubach long gone, but the early 80s competency provided by White (1981 playoffs notwithstanding) had also faded away. Landry was finally watching the game pass him by.
Dallas' 1984 season was the first time in a decade the Cowboys missed the playoffs. They made it again in 1985, but White was quickly dispatched by the Los Angeles Rams. Pelluer watched this as a third-string observer in his first two seasons, but he eventually received playing time in 1986.
After beating out Gary Hogeboom for the backup job and watching White break his wrist, Pelluer received his first extended playing time. While he had the physical traits needed to succeed, Pelluer couldn't put it all together. He won just three of his nine starts, throwing eight touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Pelluer would make just 4 more unsuccessful starts in 1987 despite the fact that White was 35 years old and coming off a major injury. The 1988 season, which was Landry's swan song before Jerry Jones' decision to purchase the team, is one of the most depressing years in Cowboys history, and Pelluer started most of those games.
While Pelluer did throw for more than 3,000 yards (a feat only Staubach and White had done before him in Cowboys history), he threw 17 touchdowns against 19 interceptions. Dallas went 3-11 in Pelluer's 14 starts, and his play led Jones to wipe as many Landry holdovers off the roster as possible.
In totality, Pelluer threw 28 touchdowns against 38 interceptions with Dallas, setting them up for what was a painful finish to the 1980s. Pelluer managed to last for a few more years as a backup with the Kansas City Chiefs before a brief NFL Europe cameo marked the end of his pro career.
As amazing a coach as Landry was, the end of his career prevented him from retiring on his own terms with dignity. Pelluer's role in that dismissal makes him perhaps the worst quarterback who had extended playing time in a Cowboys uniform.