The starting QB of the Dallas Cowboys is the most prestigious job in all of pro-sports. The franchise has a rich history of signal callers who rank among the games greatest. The man currently holding that coveted position is Dak Prescott. Prescott has had an impressive start to his career thus far but when it is all said and done, where will he rank on the list of greatest Dallas Cowboys QB’s? Time will reveal the answer to that question but for now here is my top 5 Dallas Cowboys QB’s of All-time.
5) “Dandy” Don Meredith
“Dandy Don” is considered the original Dallas Cowboys QB despite being a backup for his first 2 seasons. He was at the helm when the Cowboys transitioned from a laughing stock to a legitimate contender in the mid to late 1960’s. He was named to 3 Pro-bowls and earned NFL Player of the Year honours in 1966. He retired abruptly in 1969 before the Cowboys won their first Super Bowl but finished his career with a solid record of 42 wins 32 losses and 4 ties.
4) Danny White
He had the misfortune of being the man that bridged the gap between HOFers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman and he was also the reason the Cowboys did NOT draft Joe Montana. If you can look beyond those 2 things you may appreciate that Danny White was a very talented quarterback. He only made it to the Pro-bowl once in his career but he posted a record of 62 wins and 30 losses while playing on a steadily declining Cowboys team. His biggest claim to fame is that he did hold the club record for TD passes in a single season longer than any other QB in franchise history.
3) Tony Romo
He is the franchise leader in career passer rating, TD passes, yards and completion %. He has more 4th quarter comebacks and game winning drives than any other QB in Cowboys history. He also holds the franchise records for TD passes and yards in a single season. Why is he not #1 on this list? Well quite simply, passing statistics are drastically inflated during his era so you can’t use that as a barometer to compare him with previous generations. Romo finished his career with a very respectable 78 wins and 49 losses but failed to translate that into playoff success with his teams. Unlike Dan Marino who is criticized for not winning a Super Bowl, Romo never even reached a conference championship game. Though he is credited for a large number of 4th quarter comebacks during his career there is no official statistic for blown saves in the NFL. If there were it would reveal that Romo was also on the wrong end of several 4th quarter comebacks, often in crucial games. He made the Pro-Bowl 4 times during his career but was never an All-PRO or MVP candidate being overshadowed by the class of his era such as Brady, Manning, Brees and Rodgers. For all of those reasons Romo sits firmly behind the top 2 on my list.
2) Troy Aikman
If you look at Aikman’s career statistics, you may be shocked to learn that he only threw for more than 20 TD passes once in his entire career. Furthermore the most passing yards he threw for in a single season was 3445. What sets him apart from other QB’s on this list is that he was a winner and a great leader. He is the only player on this list with a higher career passer rating in the playoffs than the regular season. His playoff record of 11-4 is the best of any QB on this list. He has also won more Super Bowls than all of the QB’s on this list combined. He threw for a then record tying 4 TD passes on route to winning the Super Bowl XXVII MVP award. His regular season statistics might not jump out at you because he played on a team that was effective at running the football, but his 6 consecutive Pro-Bowl selections illustrate that he was considered one of the best at his position during his prime years.
1) Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach is ultimately the reason I became a Dallas Cowboys fan. No, I never saw him play, but it was his influence that gave birth to the idea of “America’s Team” spawning generations of Dallas Cowboys supporters across the United States and all over the world. Although I grew up far from Dallas, Texas, I chose to cheer for the Dallas Cowboys despite the fact that America’s Team in the mid 1980’s was a far cry from the Staubach led dynasty of the 70’s. It was during that dynasty era that Staubach led the Cowboys to 2 Super Bowl championships and earned a Super Bowl MVP award. His regular season record of 85-29 is the most impressive of all the great QB’s on this list. He threw for 153 TD’s and 109 INT’s, which is an exceptional ratio compared to other QB’s of his time. He held every major franchise passing record when he retired and although most of those records have since been broken, one still remains. He is still the franchise leader in post season TD passes with 24. Staubach was a dual threat QB who was nicknamed “Roger the Dodger” because of his ability to elude defenders and make plays with his legs. He was named to the Pro-Bowl 6 times in his career and earned NFL Player of the Year honours in 1971. What is most impressive about Staubach’s career is that he accomplished so much despite delaying the start of his career for 4 years while serving in the U.S Navy in Vietman. Staubach was a true leader and a proven winner. He engineered 12, 4th quarter comebacks in his career and 16 game winning drives earning the nickname “Captain Comeback”. Those totals seem meager compared to Tony Romo’s total but in Staubach’s case it truly was quality over quantity as he tended to win games that mattered in the most improbable fashion. Most memorable of all of those was when Staubach coined the phrase “Hail Mary” in a dramatic, last second victory against the Vikings during the playoffs. Staubach is widely considered one of the All-Time greats, he is a winner, a patriot, a class act and he is without a doubt the greatest QB in the history of the Dallas Cowboys.
*Photo by © Jerry Coli | Dreamstime.com.LLC
**Photo by © Jerry Coli | Dreamstime.com.LLC
***Photo by (c) Kenneth D Durden | Dreamstime.com.LLC
****Photo by © Jerry Coli | Dreamstime.com.LLC
All Data and Statistics obtained and verified from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/