The Dallas Cowboys are America’s team. But even they are not immune to having questionable talent running their football games. The quarterback is said to be the most important position and football. While some are talented and can stick around for about a decade, some also lack real skills that first made teams love them.
Below, we count down the top 10 most overrated Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks of all-time. Having fun with our features? Then check out our list of the top athletes ruined by women.
Most Overrated Dallas Cowboys Quarterbacks of All-Time
10. Troy Aikman
Troy Aikman is a six-time Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl MVP (XXVII) and a three-time Super Bowl Champion (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX). But he’s overrated. Why you may ask? His success coincides with Emmitt Smith’s beating of opponents’ rushing defenses. Without Smith, Aikman alone may not have been enough to win the Cowboys three Super Bowls in his reign as the starting signal caller. Smith is an eight-time Pro Bowler and holds NFL records for career rushing yards (18,355), career rushing touchdowns (164) and career 100-yard rushing games (78).
Aside from a solid Super Bowl XXVII performance, Aikman was lackluster with just 416 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the other two Super Bowls combined.
9. Tony Romo
Some people say that Tony Romo isn’t clutch, that’s why he struggles in big games. Well, Romo is the NFL’s active leader in fourth quarter passer rating, higher than the likes of Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Eli Manning. But what makes Romo overrated? He just can’t get past the big game. Romo is just 1-3 in the playoffs, and his recent success is more due to an excellent offensive line which brings out the Cowboys’ best when running the ball.
8. Danny White
What does it mean to be the quarterback of America’s team? You need to keep winning. Danny White’s most famous game as a pro came in 1980, when he led the Cowboys to a come-from-behind victory against the Atlanta Falcons in Roger Staubach-like fashion. But he failed to follow it up with a painful loss to San Francisco, when Joe Montana and Dwight Clark connected on The Catch.
Coach Tom Landry remarked, “Danny was a solid winner,” throughout the eighties. But he never won a Super Bowl. When you’re playing for America’s team, you not only need to win games but also win the biggest game of them all, the Super Bowl. White never did.
7. Craig Morton
Craig Morton was drafted fifth overall in the 1965 NFL Draft. He could’ve been the franchise signal-caller; the Cowboys saw enough of him to nab him early in the draft. While Morton mostly played as a backup, he would take part in one of the most famous quarterback controversies when he’d alternate starts with Roger Staubach, reaching an extreme of alternating between every play in 1970.
Staubach eventually won the starting gig, culminating in a Super Bowl victory. Morton would disappear into the shadows being traded twice until he made some waves as the Denver Broncos’ starter from 1977-1982.
6. Eddie LeBaron
The Dallas Cowboys lured Eddie LeBaron from the Washington Redskins to be their first franchise quarterback. He scored the Cowboys’ first ever touchdown in an exhibition game against San Francisco. He also set the record for the shortest touchdown pass in league history when he threw a touchdown to Dick Bielski from the two-inch line on October 9, 1960.
LeBaron was only a short term quarterback. He would eventually be replaced by Don Meredith. He retired at the end of the 1963 season, passing for 13,399 yards and 104 touchdowns in 12 seasons.
5. Don Meredith
Don Meredith was the original Dallas Cowboy. He had come to the team even before the franchise had adopted a nickname, hired a head coach or participated in either the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft or its first draft in 1961. Dandy Don was exceptionally well-liked by Cowboys fans for his grit, toughness and leadership. But toughness can only get you so far. The original Cowboy never even led Dallas to a Super Bowl.
4. Chad Hutchinson
Quincy Carter (more on him later) sucked so bad that the Dallas Cowboys signed a minor league baseball player Chad Hutchison in 2002. He started nine games as a rookie, including a 301-yard and two-touchdown performance against Jacksonville as his best game. But he finished with a 2-7 record with 1,563 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. He became part of a succession of short-tenured quarterbacks following the retirement of Troy Aikman.
3. Gary Hogeboom
A concussion to Danny White in the 1982 NFC Championship game gave Gary Hogeboom an opportunity of a lifetime. He rallied the Cowboys with 162 yards passing and two touchdowns in the second half before making two critical interceptions to a 31-17 loss. White’s meek demeanor contrasting with the vocable and personable Hogaboom had fans clamoring for the backup to take the starting gig.
White responded with his best statistical season in 1983, but once again failed to make the Super Bowl. Hogeboom demanded to be traded had he not received more playing time. Hogeboom got his wish in 1984. He started with a strong 343 yards passing in a season-opening win but eventually fizzled. He was even relieved by White three games in a row. Since then, Hogeboom disappeared into obscurity as he finished with a career 49-60 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
2. Drew Bledsoe
Drew Bledsoe signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2005, reuniting with former coach Bill Carcells. He was intended to be a long-term solution at quarterback. Bledsoe started off on the right foot, throwing for over 3,000 yards, and led five game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime but ultimately failed to make the playoffs with a 9-7 slate.
The future was bright with Bledsoe at quarterback perhaps with a little more seasoning in the Lone Star State. Dead wrong. His play became erratic in his second year with the Cowboys before he was eventually replaced by then-backup Tony Romo. Bledsoe didn’t want to be relegated to a backup position, which forced his retirement. Up ‘til this day, nobody misses him. Well, maybe the Giants, Eagles and Redskins do after some thought.
1. Quincy Carter
The Dallas Cowboys didn’t have a first round pick because of two first-round selections going to the Seattle Seahawks for Joey Galloway. The Cowboys made with what they had, picking Quincy Carter to replace a retired Troy Aikman. Carter was a good quarterback but he couldn’t just cut it. He started 31 games, registering 507 completions for 5,839 yards with 29 touchdowns and 36 interceptions.
Coach Bill Parcells gave the perfect quote for Carter, “He was smart. He understood it. But I just couldn’t save his ass… he can make almost every throw—and it’s just some people just can’t fight the pressure to succeed. They just can’t fight it.”
Carter was reduced to play for the CFL and later the IFL. He still couldn’t cut it. Carter no-showed a Fourth of July game for the Abilene Ruff Riders of the IBL and was subsequently cut from the team in 2009.
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