Danny White

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This article is about the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback. For other people with the same name, see Danny White (disambiguation).

Danny White
Date of birth	February 9, 1952 (age 55)
Place of birth	Mesa, Arizona
Position(s)	Quarterback, Punter
College	Arizona State
NFL Draft	1974 / Round 3/ Pick 53
Pro Bowls	1
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1976-1988	Dallas Cowboys
College Hall of Fame

Wilford Daniel "Danny" White (born February 9, 1952) is an American football coach in the Arena Football League and also occasionally appears as an analyst on broadcasts of college football games. He was named the head coach of the Arena Football League expansion Utah Blaze, which began play in 2006. Prior to that, he 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. In his first season coaching the Blaze, he led the team to a 7-9 record and a playoff berth where Utah fell to Arizona 57-34.

A graduate of Mesa Westwood High School in Mesa, Arizona, White had a stellar career as a quarterback and punter at Arizona State University and subsequently appeared briefly in the World Football League before catching on with the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys. Through 1979 he appeared primarily as a punter and backup to star quarterback Roger Staubach, but after Staubach's retirement following the end of that season he became the starting quarterback himself and for a few years did double-duty as its punter until around 1984.

White made the Pro Bowl in 1982, and led the Cowboys to three consecutive NFC championship games (1980-1982), but was criticized after the Cowboys lost each of the three despite having been favored in all three games. In 1984, he became involved in a minor automobile accident with a 17-year-old motorist, who referred to White as "you choking dog" once he realized who the driver of the other vehicle was.[1]

In 1986, the Cowboys started 6-2, had the #1 offense in the NFL, and found themselves tied for the lead in the NFC Eastern Division all under White's field generalship. During an away game against Bill Parcells’ New York Giants, however, a vicious blindside 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. It was the Cowboys' first losing season since 1965.

After an unremarkable 1987 season, White would suffer a knee injury and miss the final nine games of the 1988 season. An option on his contract was not picked up in April 1989 and he retired, paving the way for Troy Aikman to take the reigns of the struggling franchise.

White had 1,761 completions on 2,950 attempts for 21,959 yards, 155 touchdowns, and 132 interceptions in his career. He also gained 482 yards and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. Unusually for a quarterback, he has two pass receptions for touchdowns, 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 in the 20 and 77 touchbacks. His record as the Cowboys' starting quarterback was 62-32 (66% winning perecnatge) during the regular season, and 5-5 in the playoffs.

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.