Pro Football History

Login / Signup

© 2025 COLD WIRE MEDIA. THE COLD WIRE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF COLD WIRE MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USE OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF OUR TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY

© 2025 COLD WIRE MEDIA. THE COLD WIRE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF COLD WIRE MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USE OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF OUR TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY

Saturday, May 2, 2026

The Life And Career Of Danny White

Ben Donahue
By
1 Comment
Follow Pro Football History on Google News Follow Us

The Life And Career Of Danny White
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

 

Being a starting quarterback in the NFL brings a tremendous spotlight because it’s arguably the most scrutinized position in all of professional sports.

It’s even worse if QB1 is under center for the Dallas Cowboys.

Given the franchise’s storied history and because it’s referred to as “America’s Team,” the Cowboys are under a microscope every season.

Quarterbacks who suit up for the organization are expected to move mountains and win championships.

“Dandy” Don Meredith and Craig Morton got close in the 1960s before Roger Staubach led Dallas to five Super Bowls in the 1970s, winning two.

Then there was Danny White.

Initially drafted by the Cowboys in 1974, White left and played in the World Football League for a few years before returning to Dallas.

He was the team’s punter and stood on the sidelines watching Staubach before finally getting his shot at quarterback in 1980.

Although White was in the unenviable position of succeeding the popular “Captain America,” he played well and nearly got Dallas to the Promised Land three more times.

However, close isn’t good enough for the Cowboys and White was often criticized for his lack of championships by fans, the media and even his coach.

By the time he retired following the 1988 season, White had become the primary scapegoat for why the franchise had fallen on hard times.

Thankfully, White’s retirement proved more fulfilling when he won two world titles as the head coach of the Arizona Rattlers in the Arena Football League.

Since then, he has spent his time as a motivational speaker and has lent his name to various commercials.

This is the story of Danny White.

 

Like Father, Like Son

Wilford Daniel (Danny) White was born on February 9, 1952, in Mesa, Arizona.

White’s father was Wilford “Whizzer” White, who played at Arizona State University from 1947 through 1950.

The elder White lined up at halfback and set Sun Devils records at the position.

In 1950, Whizzer rushed for 1,502 yards, which led the nation, and set an ASU single-season rushing mark that is still near the top of the school’s all-time list.

He also became the first All-American in program history before playing two years with the Chicago Bears.

Danny was the oldest of five kids and had the desire at an early age to emulate his father.

They played competitive games with each other, and Whizzer made it a challenge for his son to beat him.

That only drove Danny to push harder and succeed.

“But there is no doubt,” said Danny in 1988, “that my competitiveness came from always wanting to make my father proud of me. Whether it was kicking a ball in the back yard or playing him in ping pong. I wanted to do something so he would tell me that I did good.”

By the time he started attending Westwood High School in Mesa, White was prolific in several sports.

He thrived playing football, basketball, baseball and running track and field for the Warriors, and Whizzer was on hand to watch all of it.

“It was not to pressure him,” said Whizzer. “It was just for him to know that I was behind him, no matter what happened.”

 

White Commits to Arizona State

In high school, White was a fairly good quarterback and punter, but an even better baseball player.

At one point, he was drafted by four MLB teams, and White believed that he would eventually play pro baseball.

Fate had a different idea.

As he was wrapping his prep career, Frank Kush, the head football coach at Arizona State at the time, had an idea.

He persuaded Bobby Winkles, the head baseball coach at ASU, to give White a scholarship with the caveat that the kid would also punt for the Sun Devils.

The chance to play for his father’s alma mater in both sports was a dream come true, and White jumped in with both feet.

Now that he was at ASU, however, Kush had even bigger plans for his new signee.

 

ASU’s New Field General

Since his arrival in the desert in 1958, Kush’s Sun Devil teams were competitive, but he wanted more.

His program had yet to play in a postseason game, so the militaristic coach (who had served in the Army) pushed his players to do better.

Finally, in 1970, ASU went undefeated and soundly beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Peach Bowl, the first bowl victory in school history.

Now that he had the taste of success, Kush wanted to sustain it, and he believed White could keep the good times going.

Instead of only having White punt the ball, the coach also wanted him to play quarterback.

White was up to the challenge, although he received some hard criticism from Kush.

“Frank Kush tried to embarrass me in front of my teammates,” said White, “He told me I was a sorry, weak-armed, skinny quarterback who would never amount to anything.”

Not one to wilt under pressure, the quarterback responded well in 1971, his first year as a starter.

ASU had a well-balanced team that included White and running backs Ben Malone and Woody Green.

The Sun Devils only lost once, and White became the starter midway through the season, passing for 1,393 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions (including six touchdown throws against New Mexico on October 23).

His touchdown mark and several other stats led the wild Western Athletic Conference.

Then, in a Fiesta Bowl showdown against Florida State, the two teams traded scores until Green scored with 34 seconds left to seal a 45-38 victory.

“One of the best games I ever played in,” White recalled in 2022.

 

More Winning

ASU had lost only one game in two years, and Kush continued to push his players.

White fed off his coach’s negative words about his arm strength and ability, preparing each day as if his life depended on it.

“I lived off of that one event for a long time, for years,” he said. “It became my inspiration-because I wanted more than anything else to show Kush that he was wrong about me. Since that day, I have pushed myself as hard as I could. I really stayed in football because I had something to prove to someone.”

In 1972, the Sun Devils lost a barn-burner against Wyoming on September 30, 45-43, then a month later to Air Force.

However, White passed for a WAC-leading 1,930 yards and 21 touchdowns while also tossing 15 picks and rushing for 22 yards and seven scores.

His play led to an honorable mention All-Conference nod.

ASU met the University of Missouri in the Fiesta Bowl and came away with a 49-35 win as White threw two touchdown passes.

As a senior in 1973, White let loose with a salvo of passes as the Sun Devils tore through the regular season, losing just once, to Utah, on November 3.

Then, for the third year in a row, the Sun Devils won the Fiesta Bowl, this time against the Pitt Panthers and their extraordinary running back, Tony Dorsett.

 

Accolades

In 1973, White passed for 2,609 yards, 23 touchdowns (which led the nation) and 12 interceptions while adding 253 yards and five touchdowns rushing.

Three more of his stats (including passing efficiency) also led the nation, and White was named a first-team All-American, WAC Offensive Player of the Year and had his jersey number (11) retired by the program.

During his three-year run as a starter, White passed for 5,932 yards, 59 touchdowns (6,717 yards and 64 touchdowns including bowl games) and 36 interceptions while rushing for 521 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Additionally, he had a 41.7 yards per punt average.

He was invited to play in three all-star contests following his senior year, the Hula Bowl, East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl.

White left ASU owning seven NCAA passing records, and he was inducted into the first class of the ASU Sports Hall of Fame in 1975 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

 

Drafted by Dallas, White Leaves for the WFL

Dallas Cowboys
Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr/ALLSPORT

 

In the spring of 1974, White was on the radar of every pro team ahead of the NFL Draft.

Against all odds, the Dallas Cowboys, fresh off an NFC Championship game loss to the Minnesota Vikings in 1973, selected White with the 53rd overall pick in the third round.

Dallas also selected Abilene Christian quarterback Clint Longley in the first round of the supplemental draft.

The Cowboys already had “Captain America,” Roger Staubach, on the roster, so head coach Tom Landry made it clear that he wanted White as the team’s punter.

That didn’t sit well with White.

Thankfully, John Bassett, owner of the World Football League’s (WFL) Toronto Northmen, wanted White, and he wanted him to play quarterback.

Initially, the Chicago Fire had selected White in the second round of the WFL Draft and then traded his rights to Toronto.

Bassett called White and asked him what it would take to get the signal-caller.

After thinking about it and weighing his options, White responded.

“Mr. Bassett, if you’ll pay me this, I will sign with the World Football League, and he said ‘You got it. Get on a plane, we’re going to have a press conference tomorrow and announce it,’” recalled White.

Sure enough, Bassett was true to his word, and White said goodbye to Dallas and hello to Canada.

 

Slingin’ Passes

It turned out the trip to Canada was only temporary.

A losing fight with the Canadian Parliament about another professional football league in the country sent the Northmen to Memphis, Tennessee, to become the “Southmen.”

The locals in Memphis saw the team’s logo of a giant bear and nicknamed the Southmen the “Grizzlies.”

White signed with the club in mid-March 1974, and John Huarte, the former Notre Dame quarterback who had played eight years in the NFL, also signed with Memphis.

The veteran’s presence meant that White would start the season on the bench.

Just before kickoff, the rookie took in the sights and sounds of his first professional football game.

That’s when he noticed a prominent figure in the stands.

“I can’t tell you who won the game…what the score was…or anything else, but I remember Elvis Presley,” said White.

Eventually, White got some playing time at quarterback (while also punting) and passed for 1,190 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Memphis went 17-3 and lost to the Florida Blazers in the semifinals of the playoffs.

 

The WFL Folds

Before the 1975 WFL season, Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield, formerly of the Miami Dolphins, signed with Memphis.

The signings sent shock waves through the professional football world as the trio had left the NFL for a seemingly fledgling league.

Only three years before, all three were members of the Dolphins’ undefeated 1972 team, and the fact that they had deserted the relative comfort of the NFL was noteworthy.

Now bolstered with a slew of former All-Pros, White took over the starter’s role in Week 7.

He passed for 1,445 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and Memphis stood at 7-4 after 11 weeks, and White was chosen to the All-WFL Team.

Then, just as the Southmen geared up for a playoff push, the WFL suddenly ceased to exist.

The league was plagued by financial difficulties and could no longer afford to operate, a fact that shocked the players.

“We were actually out on the practice field and [head coach] John McVay called us all together out on the field…we were warming up and he said, ‘Gentlemen as of four o’clock today the league no longer exists so pack up your bags and get ready to go home and we’ll be in touch with you.’ That was how we found out,” said White.

Years later, White would be selected for the WFL All-Time Team.

 

Back to Dallas

Dallas Cowboys helmet
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

 

White wasn’t unemployed for long.

Shortly after the WFL folded, the Cowboys reached out to their former draft pick.

“The Cowboys immediately called after the league folded and basically doubled their offer,” White said in 2013. “I had the experience, and Craig Morton had just been traded, so everything just kind of fit. It was almost like it was kind of meant to be.”

In 1974, while White played for Memphis, the Cowboys had missed the postseason for the first time since 1965.

They returned in 1975 as Staubach led Dallas to a Super Bowl X loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

White had no illusions of starting over Captain America and was content, for the time being, to bide his time as the team’s punter.

In 1976, he punted 70 times for a 38.4 yards per punt average and passed for 213 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in mop-up duty.

The following year, White punted 80 times for a 39.6 average while Staubach took the Cowboys to a 12-2 record and Super Bowl XII win over Craig Morton and the Denver Broncos.

Then, in 1978, White posted a 40.5-yards punt average and started one game at QB.

Following a 12-4 record in the NFL’s first 16-game regular season, White helped the Cowboys in the playoffs.

During the team’s divisional round game with the Atlanta Falcons, Staubach was bounced from the contest with a concussion and the ‘Boys were losing, 20-13.

White entered and calmly led Dallas back to a 27-20 win.

Staubach returned a week later and guided the franchise to a Super Bowl XIII loss, again, to Pittsburgh.

 

White Finally Takes Over

Dallas and Staubach went 11-5 in 1979 and lost to the LA Rams in the divisional round.

As the season drew to a close, White approached Landry with a request.

“By the time I had been backing him [Staubach] up for four years, it was getting difficult,” said White. “I had a meeting with Coach Landry and told him that I was to the point where I felt like I needed to play. I was six years out of college, and if I wasn’t going to be playing there soon, I wanted him to consider trading me. I loved being with the Cowboys, so I had mixed feelings about it. But I knew that my time was running out. I needed to start competing.”

Captain America ended up solving the problem when he decided to retire, thereby handing the reins to White.

The rest of the Cowboys would miss Staubach, but White was already a known commodity.

“To say that we have as much confidence in Danny as we did in Roger, after all the things he did for this team, would be ridiculous at this point,” said Wide Receiver Drew Pearson, “but we’ve worked with Danny for four years, and we all know what he can do.”

Now that he was finally QB1, White started every game in 1980 and posted a 12-4 record.

He passed for 3,287 yards, 28 touchdowns and 25 interceptions while rushing for a career-high 114 yards and a touchdown and averaging 40.9 yards per punt.

In the wild-card round against the Rams, White began the contest with a fumble and three interceptions.

The tide turned in the second half when he threw three touchdown passes on the way to a 34-13 win.

During a tough divisional-round game against Atlanta, White and company were down by 10 points in the fourth quarter before he led a comeback to advance, 30-27.

Unfortunately, in the NFC Championship Game, the Philadelphia Eagles ended Dallas’s season with a resounding 20-7 win.

 

The Niners Upend Dallas in ‘81

San Francisco 49ers

 

White had no intention of slowing down in 1981.

He started all but one game that season on the way to over 3,000 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and 104 rushing yards.

The Cowboys went 12-4 for the second year in a row and blanked Tampa Bay in the divisional round.

That set up a date against the upstart San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Joe Montana in the NFC Championship Game.

Dallas took a 10-7 lead in the first quarter after a White touchdown pass to Tony Hill.

Both teams traded leads through the next few quarters, including White’s 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Doug Cosbie in the fourth, which put Dallas ahead, 27-21.

With less than five minutes remaining, Montana drove San Fran the length of the field and down to the Cowboys’ five-yard line.

On third and three and 58 seconds left, Montana took the snap and was immediately set upon by the Dallas defensive line.

Just before getting run out of bounds, the quarterback heaved the ball in the direction of receiver Dwight Clark, who was floating through the back of the end zone.

At first, it looked like the pass was too high.

However, Clark stretched to the heavens and came down with “The Catch” (and immortality) as the Niners went ahead, 28-27.

What most fans forget is that White and the Cowboys still had enough time to steal a win.

In fact, White found Drew Pearson for a 31-yard completion, and the receiver nearly went the distance before San Fran corner Eric Wright hauled him down.

The next play saw White get sacked by Lawrence Pillars, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Jim Stuckey of the Niners.

For the second year in a row, Dallas’s Super Bowl opportunity was squashed.

 

Another NFC Championship Loss

Following the first two weeks of the 1982 season, the NFL players called a strike that limited the regular season to nine games.

Dallas went 6-3 and White hurled the pigskin for 2,079 yards, 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while averaging 41.7 yards per punt (tied for his career-high).

His stats brought the gunslinger his first (and only) Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro nod.

During the postseason, Dallas was losing to Tampa Bay in the First Round before White led yet another comeback in a 30-17 victory.

In the Second Round, the QB had 225 yards and a touchdown throw on the way to a 37-26 win against Green Bay.

The Cowboys then found themselves in the NFC title game for the third year in a row, this time against the Washington Redskins.

After only a handful of passes, White was given a concussion by the rabid ‘Skins defense and third-year quarterback Gary Hogeboom took over.

Despite Hogeboom’s heroics, Washington sent Dallas home with a 31-17 victory.

 

White Fights for Playing Time

American Football on Field

 

A year after he was voted to the Pro Bowl, White performed even better.

In 1983, he passed for 3,980 yards and 29 touchdowns (both career-highs) against 23 interceptions and also added a career-best four touchdowns on the ground.

The Cowboys won 12 times but lost to the LA Rams in the wild card round (where White threw three interceptions).

Then, in 1984, White had something of an image problem with Landry and his teammates.

During the 1982 players’ strike, White ruffled the feathers of his teammates when he called the strike a “farce.”

When Hogeboom entered the playoff game in 1983, many of the Cowboys were thrilled that White wasn’t leading them.

Landry posed another quandary as White and his head coach didn’t have a lot of deep, meaningful conversations.

“I always wondered what he was thinking,” White said in 1988. “Was he behind me? Did he think I should do this better or work on something else? Why was he holding back? When you play for someone for thirteen years and in all that time have only a half-dozen personal conversations with him, then that circulates through your head.”

It also didn’t help that Landry publicly wondered if White could win the big games when it mattered.

The coach especially believed that losing the 1981 NFC Championship game was something that led to White’s downfall.

“Right or wrong,” said Drew Pearson, “Danny will always be looked upon as the guy who couldn’t get to that one game [Super Bowl]. It’s not fair, really, because he has done some things that a lot of good quarterbacks have never accomplished. But in Dallas, you have to play to a different standard, and that standard is the Super Bowl.”

Once again, White split time with Hogeboom in ‘84, starting six games and passing for 1,580 yards, 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while Dallas missed the playoffs.

 

The Beginning of the End

Perhaps seeing the error of his ways, Landry started White over Hogeboom in 1985, and the ‘Boys returned to the postseason with a 10-6 record.

White was voted a co-captain by his peers and had 3,157 yards, 21 touchdowns and 17 picks, but coughed up the ball four times in Dallas’s 20-0 upset loss to Eric Dickerson and the Rams in the divisional round.

In 1986, the quarterback had Dallas at 6-2 to begin the year, and he was the NFC’s top-rated passer.

On November 2, in a Week 9 tilt against the New York Giants, White broke his wrist on a violent hit by linebacker Carl Banks and was done for the year.

The Cowboys’ fortunes went with him, and a once-promising season ended with seven losses in the final eight games.

White had a 3-6 record as a starter in 1987 before Landry pulled him aside and inserted Steve Pelluer for the rest of the year.

 

White Retires

retirement

 

Before his 13th year as an NFL quarterback, White was told by Landry that Pelluer would start in 1988.

Instead of standing under center full time, White played in three games and passed for 274 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

He was also the subject of a very public accusation.

A business White was an investor in, Kowboy Krome Accessories, was under investigation by the IRS for fraud.

White claimed innocence and told the media that he was not involved in the day-to-day operations.

Although the hubbub soon passed, the quarterback was not cast in a positive light in the Dallas area.

Following the Cowboys’ 3-13 season, he retired from professional football.

During his career, White passed for 21,959 yards, 155 touchdowns and 132 interceptions, averaged 40.2 yards per punt and rushed for 482 yards and eight touchdowns.

He was a Pro Bowler and All-Pro one-time each, won Super Bowl XII as the team’s punter and helped Dallas reach the NFC Championship Game three years in a row.

“No one could have done a better job in following Roger (Staubach),” Landry commented. “Danny was a solid winner.”

 

Second Act as a Coach

Head coach Danny White of the Utah Blaze
(Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images for AFL)

 

“I had a unique career,” Danny begins. “The first few years I started, we didn’t have many weaknesses. The last few years I started I didn’t – I don’t ever remember getting hit the first four years I started, and if I did, I don’t remember. And then I think I broke every bone in my body those last three years. I had everything known to man.”

The fall of the Landry-led Dallas Cowboys was swift.

Before the 1989 season, new team owner Jerry Jones fired Landry and replaced him with Jimmy Johnson, and a new era of Cowboys football began.

“I would have to say the highlight of my career was being a Dallas Cowboy. Being a part of that era and playing for Tom Landry. Things like that you don’t appreciate until many years later. I look back on that now and realize how lucky I was to play for that team and that coach at that time,” said White.

In the early 1990s, White was approached about becoming the head coach of the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League.

He accepted the job in 1992 and led the Rattlers through the 2004 season, bringing two Arena Bowl championships and losses in three other Arena Bowls.

In 2006, he became the head coach of the Utah Blaze and took the organization to three straight playoff appearances through the 2008 season.

White was inducted into the Arena Football League’s Hall of Fame in 2002 based on his 142-82 overall record and 20-13 playoff record.

Following his time in the Arena League, White was a radio analyst for Cowboys games for several years.

White and his first wife, JoLynn, had four children and 16 grandchildren before JoLynn died in 2016.

He has since remarried and spends his days as a motivational speaker and product endorser.

 

References

https://www.nasljerseys.com

https://vault.si.com

http://wfl.charlottehornetswfl.com

https://www.dallascowboys.com

quarterbackproject.wordpress.com

https://www.dmagazine.com

https://www.dallascowboys.com

https://fwtx.com/news

https://www.azcentral.com

https://www.houseofsparky.com

https://www.azcentral.com

https://bleacherreport.com

https://www.daveyobrienaward.com

https://www.sports-reference.com

https://thesundevils.com

https://footballfoundation.org

https://www.pro-football-reference.com

NEXT:  The Life And Career Of Tom Landry

Recent Stories

Head coach Herm Edwards of the Arizona State Sun Devils
The Life And Career Of Herm Edwards
Steven Jackson #39 of the St. Louis Rams runs with the ball
The Life And Career Of Steven Jackson
Cornerback Richard Sherman #25 of the Seattle Seahawks reacts
The Life And Career Of Richard Sherman
Robert Edwards of the New England Patriots poses for a portrait
The Life And Career Of Robert Edwards
Quarterback Kerry Collins #5 of the Tennessee Titans moves to pass
The Life And Career Of Kerry Collins
San Francisco 49ers
The Life And Career Of John Brodie
Ben Donahue
Read Full Bio
Pro Football History Staff
Ben Donahue
Contributor at Pro Football History
Over 25 years of experience in sports including coach, athletic director, game day operations, media relations, football operations, and scout. He is [...]

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. profis-vor-ort.de says

    Great article, thanks for sharing such valuable insights! 🙌 I really appreciate the way you explained the topic so clearly and made it easy to understand. It’s rare to find content that is both informative and practical like this. By the way, I recently came across a helpful platform called profis-vor-ort.de — it connects people quickly with local experts and services in Germany. I think it could be a great resource for anyone interested in finding trustworthy professionals nearby. Keep up the great work, I’ll definitely be following your future posts!

Leave a Reply

Join Pro Football History Community! 🌟 Cold Wire Favicon
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in or sign up Become a part of Pro Football History and enjoy exclusive benefits.

Sign up to comment on articles, engage with fellow sports fans, and contribute to high-quality discussions. Create a personalized profile and stay informed with tailored email notifications. Help us maintain a respectful and inclusive community.

Already have an account? Log in here.

Pro Football History