The Logical Cowboy: 'THE UNAPPRECIATED DANNY WHITE'

Source:The Logical Cowboy- Dallas Cowboys starting QB Danny White (1980-88)

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From The Logical Cowboy

This is follow up piece that I wrote about the decline for Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys, from last week on The New Democrat.

This is also from a follow piece on The New Democrat about Danny White.

Just to start on a personal not first: when I think of Danny White's Dallas Cowboys, I think of him in Tom Landry's shotgun formation, throwing post passes down to the field to either WR Tony Hill or TE Doug Cosbie, against the excellent pass rush that the Redskins had with Dexter Manley, Dave Butz, and Charles Mann, right in Danny White's face, if White doesn't get rid of the ball very quickly. And despite being under that pressure, still able to not just get the ball off, but make a perfect throw down the field, to either Tony Hill or Doug Cosbie, for either a big gain or TD pass against the Redskins.

I think Danny White when he had time to throw the ball, was one of the most accurate and best QB's in the entire NFL. He didn't have a cannon like Gary Hogeboom, but he had a strong arm. He was 6'2, 200 pounds or so, he was very mobile, made plays on the run or scramble. I think he had the same physical skills as the legend that he replaced, which was Roger Staubach, who I still consider to be the best QB in Cowboys history. (Sorry, to any Troy Aikman fans who may read this) 

But the problems that were around Danny White, even though they weren't problems that he created, he still had to try to deal with them and make the best of them. 

Danny White was replacing the best all around QB of the 1970s in Roger Staubach. 

White's Cowboys were in decline, at least in the sense that they were no longer dominating the NFL. 

The rule changes of the 1970s had weaken their defense, especially their secondary. 

The Cowboys didn't have the same depth in the 1980s, that they had in the 1970s. 

The Cowboys starters were still some of the best players in the NFL, but their backups weren't ready to start and when they suffered key injuries, they became an ordinary NFL team. 

The rest of the NFL, at least in the NFC had not just caught up with the Cowboys, but became better, like the Redskins, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Chicago Bears. 

And perhaps the worst problem of all for Danny White, he played for a head coach who didn't appreciate him, who blamed him personally for the 3 NFC Championship losses in the early 1980s. And as a result tried to replace White with an inferior QB in Gary Hogeboom, before he realized that he made a big mistake and put White back in as the starting QB. 

Danny White was a very good, Pro Bowl caliber NFL QB, who just happened to play for the Dallas Cowboys, when the Cowboys were transitioning to one of the top 2-3 franchises in the entire NFL, to becoming am ordinary playoff team, where making winning your division or just making the playoffs, was a good year. And he gets way too much blame for the decline of Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys. 

You can also see this post on WordPress.