Expert: Richard Riccio Date: 1/19/2007 Subject: Cowboy quarterbacks.
Question Hey Richard, I was in a conversation and realized that I had no idea who the quarterback (s) was/were from Roger Staubach until Troy Aikman. I tried to google it, but that didnt work. Do you mind helping me out? Thank you...I appreciate your time.
Answer Thanks for the questions!
Well after Roger retired in 1979, DANNY WHITE, who had been on the roster since 1976, but was seldom used, became the starter from 1980 - 1983. And he performed very well. Never really appreciated in Dallas, he produced the finest numbers for a cowboys QB and his teams scored lots of points. The one knock on him was that he couldn't win the big one. That's a debatable issue because many others, like myself, contend that the Cowboy's teams, although still strong in the early 80's were declining and were not at the level of the 70's Cowboys led by Staubach.
In 1984 Gary Hogeboom took over to see if he could lift Dallas to the promised land. Although he showed flashes of brilliance, he was very inconsistent and by mid season Danny White had reclaimed the starting job. White was also the starter in the 1985 season, Dallas's last winning season in the 80's. In the 1986, White started again and was having a great year, until he broke his wrist against the Giants in week 9. Young Steve Pelleur took over and the Cowboys promptly dropped 7 of the last 8 games to finish below .500 for the first time in 21 years.
In 1987, Danny White and Steve pelleur shared the starting job with White the Number # 1 man when healthy.
As a small note, that was the year the NFL had a 3 game strike and for 2 games a QB named Kevin Sweeney played and played well. Well enough that he stayed on the Cowboy's roster for the next season.
By 1988, the Cowboys had reached rock bottom. Steve Pelluer became the starting QB for the entire year, with an aging Danny white the backup. It would be Danny's final season in the NFL. The cowboys, along with Pelleur, were terrible.
Then in 1989, Aikman came around. He DID, however, share the QB responsibilities that first year with Steve Walsh, a QB the Cowboys picked up in the supplementary draft.
