Photo Credit: ESPN

By Zane Miller

Where we last left off in Danny White’s career as quarterback/punter of the Dallas Cowboys, he had wrapped up a strong 1980 season where he led the team to a 12-4 record and an NFC Championship Game appearance, though they lost 20-7 to the Philadelphia Eagles and came up just shy of making it to the Super Bowl. White mounted another furious charge in 1981, winning 11 games as Dallas matched their 12-4 finish from the year before, but the ensuing playoff run also ended at the NFC Championship Game in a heartbreaking 28-27 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

In 1982, White had arguably the best season of his career, albeit under unconventional circumstances. Due to a player’s strike, the regular season was shortened from the usual 16 games down to just nine games once the season got back underway, though this was no skin off White’s nose as he finished fourth in the NFL in both passing touchdowns and passing yards with 16 and 2,079 respectively. As a result, White earned second-team All-Pro honors while also finishing inside the top-5 in the MVP race, though the award would eventually be won by Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) kicker Mark Moseley.

Speaking of special teams, White continued to double as the Cowboys’ punter during this time. He had an uncharacteristically sub-average year in terms of his punting in 1981, getting just 40.8 yards per punt, before bouncing right back into the top-10 with 41.7 yards per punt in 1982. Although White’s punting stats took another decline in 1983, dropping back down to 40.6, he would more than make up for it on the offensive side of the ball.

White and the Cowboys opened up the season with a nail-biting 31-30 win over the Redskins on Monday Night Football, with White throwing for 193 yards and three touchdown passes, two of which were 75-yard and 51-yard bombs to veteran wide receiver Tony Hill. Three weeks later on September 25th, however, White endured his worst game of the season against the New Orleans Saints, throwing three interceptions while gaining just 166 passing yards and a lone touchdown. Nonetheless, the defense bailed out their quarterback, as linebacker Anthony Dickerson sacked Saints quarterback Ken Stabler for a safety with less than two minutes to go, ultimately turning into a 21-20 win.

Once again, the Cowboys proved they were a force to be reckoned with through the first half of the season, as seen in their October 9th game versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where White passed for a career-high 377 yards along with two touchdowns. With kicker Rafael Septien nailing the game-winning field goal in overtime, Dallas remained undefeated six games into the year. Though the winning streak lasted just one more game before it came to an end in a close loss to the Los Angeles (now Las Vegas) Raiders, White returned with a vengeance the next time around.

On October 30th against the New York Giants, White went off for the best offensive game of his entire career, securing five touchdown passes for 304 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown pass to tight end Doug Cosbie and a 58-yard TD strike to Hill which would seal the 38-20 win for the Cowboys. White proceeded to put up another 300-yard passing game against the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers with three touchdown passes in the process, though the Chargers had the last laugh as they handed Dallas their second loss of the season by a score of 24-23.

The next three contests went off without a hitch, but White and company would hit some late season adversity. In their December 11th rematch against the Redskins, the Cowboys were taken down 31-10 with White having a disappointing game, giving up three interceptions while passing for 197 yards and one touchdown. The regular season finale would not be much better, as they fell to the 49ers 42-17 to end their hopes of winning the NFC East title over Washington. Still, White was able to close out the regular season on a somewhat positive note, getting 277 yards and a touchdown through the air, as the team easily claimed the first wild card spot in the playoffs with their 12-4 record.

In a rare Monday afternoon matchup on December 26th against the fifth-seed Los Angeles Rams, the Cowboys were favored to continue their streak of deep playoff runs. Through three quarters, Los Angeles held the lead, but it was far from time to panic for Dallas as they were only up 14-10. However, what looked like a grinding defensive battle to the end quickly spiraled out of control for the Cowboys. In the fourth quarter, the Rams capitalized on an interception of White by linebacker Jim Collins by way of a touchdown pass from quarterback Vince Ferragamo to wide receiver George Farmer to make it a two-score game.

Looking to turn the momentum back in their favor, the Cowboys were knocking on the door of the red zone on their next possession after White found longtime wide receiver Drew Pearson for an 18-yard gain and running back Tony Dorsett ran for another 12. However, the biggest play of the game would come right after, as White was intercepted by cornerback LeRoy Irvin. Irvin ran it back 94 yards down to the goal line, though the Rams were unable to punch it in and had to settle for a field goal. This would prove inconsequential, though, as the Cowboys struggled to move the ball in the bitterly cold weather. They would manage a late touchdown, but the ensuing onside kick attempt fell harmlessly out of bounds, as the Rams escaped with the 24-17 victory. White threw two touchdowns for 330 yards, but these solid numbers were overshadowed by three crucial interceptions. Meanwhile, Ferragamo posted just 162 passing yards, but added three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win.

White remained in Dallas for the rest of his NFL career, though he would only have one more full season at quarterback. After a disappointing preseason, White was benched in favor of longtime backup Gary Hogeboom to start the 1984 season, but regained the starting role by the end of the year. White started in all 10 wins of the Cowboys’ 1985 campaign, but were again eliminated by the Rams in their opening round. 1985 was also the last season where White attempted a punt, as Mike Saxon took over the team’s punting duties for the rest of the decade.

1986 was the beginning of the end for White’s playing career, as he sustained a season-ending broken wrist near the midway point of the season, an injury which appeared to linger into the 1987 season as he was a shadow of himself on the field, leading to his benching for new quarterback Steve Pelluer. After White only appeared in three games during the team’s tumultuous 1988 campaign due to a knee injury, the writing was on the wall. White announced his retirement before the 1989 season, ending his career with 62 career victories and, biggest of all, the Super Bowl XII championship.

After hanging up the cleats, White moved back to his home state of Arizona to embark on a coaching career. However, this was not in the NFL or college ranks, instead joining the newly formed Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League. While it’s difficult to do White’s coaching tenure justice in a brief synopsis, he was the Rattlers’ head coach for the first 13 years of its existence and took home ArenaBowl championships in both 1994 and 1997, while only having a losing record in one season. As a result, he was elected to the AFL Hall of Fame in 2002, to go along with his 1998 induction into the College Football Hall of Fame from his time at Arizona State. In 2006, White was named the head coach of another expansion team, this being the Utah Blaze. While not as successful as his time with the Rattlers, he still led the Blaze to playoff appearances in each of his three seasons. However, prior to what would have been the 2009 season, the AFL filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced it was temporarily shutting its doors. While the league re-emerged under new management in 2010, White had already stepped away from coaching, claiming a total of 142 wins for the fourth-most in AFL history.

Personally, if you were to ask me who the most underrated player in NFL history is, I would say Danny White is the answer to that question. Not only was he a very good quarterback for most of his career, he simultaneously was one of the better punters in the league, which was certainly no easy task.