You’re basing White being better because he had 5 playoff wins but that was mostly due to the great teams he had. Once those teams declined White struggled. By the way, I wouldn’t call White a postseason winner, he had a 5-5 playoff record.
Many of the key players on defense were under 30 when Danny White took over in 1980. John Dutton, Bob Breunig, Benny Barnes, Mike Hegman, Too Tall Jones, Dennis Thurman and Randy White were all under 30. Harvey Martin didn’t turn 30 until late in the 1980 season. That team White inherited was loaded! Everson Walls came along in 1981. White threw 25 INTs in 1980 but the team was so good they were able to overcome them until the playoffs. He had 5 INTs in the playoffs and 4 fumbles that season. He was a “good” QB who folded in the biggest games and was carried at times by his running game and defense. Had Staubach not had to retire the Cowboys would have probably won a couple of more SBs. I don’t think they would have beat the 82 Washington team at RFK. That was a terrific team. It was right about then when age started catching up with the Cowboys.
I recorded that game on VHS and watched it a fair bit in the 2002 offseason lolBought his jersey immediately after he led us to a win vs the 49ers in 2001.
That was the highlight of the 2001 season... revenge for T.O. running to the star in 2000.
I still have the jersey somewhere. Cautionary tale for getting too excited about a player too quickly.
He started and won the first game I can remember watching so there’s that.
I started following the Cowboys in 1972 and saw every snap White and Romo took. Romo was much more athletic and was a greater playmaker than White and it’s not even debatable. White never had to throw the ball near as much as Romo because he had a great running game and defense for a majority of his career. He had Tony Dorsett and Herschel Walker to hand the ball to. He had Drew Pearson and Tony Hill. He had Randy White, Too Tall Jones and Harvey Martin on defense. Romo never played on great teams like that. White never had to do near as much as Romo. You’re allowing White’s 5 playoff wins to sway your thinking. White also had 5 playoff losses and ended up getting benched later in his career.
I was 12 when he took over. Obviously I was less than thrilled when Roger retired, but I thought White was a solid QB. A lot of my best memories are from both Staubach and White.
Beurlein and Kosar were clutch.
Danny White had a great start to the 1986 season. Led the league in QBR until Giants LB, Carl Banks, broke White's throwing hand. Two years later, he was gone.
Talk about a tight window pass.
Landry had pretty much given up on White after the 82 title game loss to Washington. He was convinced he couldn’t win a title with him. He attempted to trade White and some other players along with draft picks to the Colts for the rights to John Elway. Gil Brandt talked about in an interview. He said the offer the Cowboys made was better than the offer the Broncos made but the Colts went with the Broncos offer. The bottom line is White was a good QB but no Cowboys all-time QB ranking has him ahead of Romo.
I think of the fumble against San Francisco in the 81 title game. That’s what most remember him for. One of the biggest disappointments in Cowboys history. His career could have gone a lot differently had Drew Pearson been wearing a tear away jersey on what would have been the game winning TD, the play before the fumble.
Fun fact- Danny white had 163 career TD’s (throwing + rushing) and 200 career turnovers (INT’s + fumbles)
