Danny White Wilford Daniel " Danny " White ( born February 9 , 1952 ) is a former quarterback and punter for the Dallas Cowboys and an American football coach in the Arena Football League . He has been the color commentator for Cowboys games on Compass Media Networks ' America ' s Team Radio Network since the 2011 season . Early years . A graduate of Westwood High School in Mesa , Arizona , he didn ' t receive a lot of notice while being the starter at quarterback , because back then he was a better baseball prospect . Frank Kush , then the football head coach at Arizona State University , helped convinced Bobby Winkles , the school ' s baseball coach , to sign White to a scholarship with the provision that he would also play punter for the football team . During those early years Kush gave him a chance to improve his skills as a quarterback , which eventually would lead him to become the starter midway through his sophomore season , ending up throwing for 6 touchdown s in a game against the University of New Mexico . White went on to have a stellar career as a quarterback and punter , compiling a 33 - 4 record , winning 3 Fiesta Bowl s , setting 7 NCAA passing records and being named All - America in 1973 , when he lead the nation ' s second rated total offense . He finished with 6 , 717 passing yards , 64 touchdown s , 42 interceptions and averaged 41 . 7 yards per punt . Besides having his jersey retired , he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame , the State of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame and the Arizona State University Hall of Fame . In 2000 he was named Arizona Athlete of the Century by the Arizona Republic . Professional career . Memphis Southmen ( WFL ) . The Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the third round of the 1974 NFL Draft , but were mainly interested in him as a punter , so he chose to sign with the World Football League ' s Memphis Southmen for a better offer . White shared the quarterback position with John Huarte , helping his team reach the semifinals as a rookie and a second place finish in 1975 . During these two years , he passed for 2 , 635 yards and 21 touchdown s in 30 games , and also lead the league in punting his last year . Dallas Cowboys . In 1976 he signed with the Dallas Cowboys after the World Football League folded . Through 1979 , White was the Cowboys ' punter and the backup to the team ' s star quarterback Roger Staubach . After Staubach ' s retirement following the end of that season , White became the Cowboys ' starting quarterback , and for a few years did double - duty as the punter until sometime in 1984 . White ' s most famous game as a pro was undoubtedly a 1980 playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons , in which he led the Cowboys to a come - from - behind 30 - 27 win in a Staubach - like fashion . He also played in one of the Cowboys ' most painful playoff losses against the San Francisco 49ers in the 1981 NFC Championship Game , famous for the Joe Montana - to - Dwight Clark game - winning play , which would simply come to be known as " The Catch " . White almost brought the Cowboys back to win the game , but his pass to Drew Pearson came a finger tackle away from winning the game in the final seconds . He received Pro Bowl and second team All - Pro honors in 1982 . White led the Cowboys to three consecutive NFC Championship Game s ( 1980 - 1982 ) , but was criticized after the Cowboys lost each of the three games despite having been favored in all of them . White also received criticism for publicly siding with the owners during the 1982 NFL Players Strike . Fans and teammates alike began to show support for White to be replaced as the Cowboys quarterback by Gary Hogeboom , who was coming off an impressive performance in the 1982 NFC Championship Game ( which they lost to the archrival Washington Redskins ) . Even White ' s statistically career - best 1983 season wasn ' t even enough to quiet the critics , afters ending it with consecutive blowout losses to the Redskins ( at home ) and the 49ers after a 12 - 2 start . To add insult to injury , the Cowboys lost the NFC Wildcard Playoff game to the Los Angeles Rams . That apparently was enough for White to lose his starting job to Hogeboom at the start of the 1984 season . Under Hogeboom , the Cowboys looked impressive with a 4 - 1 start , but then a loss to division rival St . Louis and ineffective plays by Hogeboom convinced coach Tom Landry to reinstate White as his starter . The Cowboys finished 9 - 7 , but missed the playoffs in 1984 for the first time in a decade ; but with White as quarterback , the Cowboys made it back in 1985 with a 10 - 6 record . However , they lost again to the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs . In 1986 the Cowboys started 6 - 2 , had the # 1 offense in the NFL , were tied for the lead in the NFC Eastern Division and White was also the number one rated passer in the NFC at that point in the season . During an away game against Bill Parcells ’ s New York Giants , however , a blind - side sack by Giants linebacker Carl Banks broke White ' s throwing wrist , knocking him out of the game and ending his season . Dallas lost the game , 17 - 14 , and without White the team faded badly , finishing the year 7 - 9 and the Cowboys first losing season since 1965 . White returned as the starter at the beginning of 1987 , but after inconsistent play , he was benched in favor of Steve Pelluer for 4 of the final 6 games . In 1988 Pelluer won the starting job in training camp , relegating White as a backup . White appeared briefly in only two games , and in his second game he suffered a season - ending knee injury . An option on his contract was not picked up in April 1989 and he retired , paving the way for Troy Aikman to take the reins of the struggling franchise . White had 1 , 761 completions on 2 , 950 attempts for 21 , 959 yards , 155 touchdown s , and 132 interceptions in his career . He also gained 482 yards and scored 8 touchdown s rushing . Unusual for a quarterback , he had two pass receptions for touchdown s , both from a halfback option pass . On special teams he punted 610 times for 24 , 509 yards , an average of 40 . 4 yards per punt , with 144 punts inside the 20 and 77 touchbacks . His record as the Cowboys ' starting quarterback was 62 - 32 ( . 659 winning percentage ) during the regular season , and 5 - 5 in the playoffs . Being Roger Staubach ' s successor and never reaching a Super Bowl , contributed to White ' s being an unappreciated player , considering all of the successes he achieved for the Cowboys and the NFL during the decade of the eighties . " I don ' t think anybody could have followed Roger and done as well as Danny , " Coach Tom Landry remarked . " Danny was a solid winner " . Coaching career . His career as a coach began shortly after his playing days ended . This is appropriate considering that , while an active player , he was widely regarded — like Staubach before him — as knowledgeable of the game and as something of a coach on the field . White served as the head coach of the Arizona Rattlers from 1992 to 2004 , winning the ArenaBowl championship in 1994 and 1997 . White ' s contract was not renewed by the new Rattlers ownership after the 2004 season following three consecutive ArenaBowl losses . He was named the head coach of the Arena Football League expansion Utah Blaze , which began play in 2006 . He led his teams to the playoffs in 10 of 11 seasons , including two championships ( 1994 and 1997 ) , finishing with a 162 - 95 record as a Head Coach . White was named to the Arena Football League Hall of Fame in recognition for his coaching success . Recent Honors . On October 29 , 2010 , White was honored , along with all Sun Devil Quarterbacks , at a Legends Luncheon hosted by the Arizona State University Alumni Association and Sun Devil Club . Other honorees included John F . Goodman , Andrew Walter , Jake Plummer , and Jeff van Raaphorst . Inaugural member of Dunham and Miller Hall of Fame . Musical career . In 1983 White briefly recorded as a country music artist for the Grand Prix label . His only single , " You ' re a Part of Me , " a duet with Linda Nail , reached # 85 on the Hot Country Songs charts . Personal life . White ' s father , Wilford " Whizzer " White ( no relation to college football legend and U . S . Supreme Court justice Byron " Whizzer " White ) , was the first Arizona State University All - America n football player and still ranks second in school ' s history with 1502 rushing yards in a season , he also played halfback for the Chicago Bears from 1951 - 52 . White and his wife , JoLynn , have four children and twelve grandchildren . He now makes corporate appearances and motivational speeches .