Danny White to Receive Davey O’Brien Legends Award

FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 9, 2024) – The Davey O’Brien Foundation has announced that College Football Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White is the recipient of this year’s Davey O’Brien Legends Award.

The Legends Award recognizes a college or professional quarterback who has made a significant contribution to the game of football, distinguished himself as an extraordinary leader and demonstrated exemplary conduct both on and off the football field.

White played 13 seasons with the Cowboys (1976-88) and posted a 62-30 regular-season record (.659) as a starting quarterback. An All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection in 1982, he led Dallas to the playoffs five times, including three straight appearances in the NFC Championship Game from 1980-82.

For his career, White was 1,761-for-2,950 passing (.596) for 21,959 yards and 155 touchdowns. He also added 482 rushing yards and scored 10 touchdowns (eight rushing, two receiving). He finished his career as the franchise’s all-time leader in completions and touchdown passes.

In addition, White punted 610 times for 24,509 yards, an average of 40.4 yards per punt, with 144 punts inside the 20-yard line and 77 touchbacks. He was the punter on the Cowboys’ Super Bowl XII championship squad in 1977.

Originally selected by the Cowboys, primarily as a punter, in the third round (53rd overall) of the 1974 NFL Draft, he elected to sign with the World Football League’s Memphis Southmen, where he played quarterback for two seasons. In 1976, he signed with Dallas and served as the team’s punter and backup quarterback to inaugural Davey O’Brien Legends Award winner Roger Staubach his first four seasons.

After retiring from the NFL in 1988, White was a head coach in the Arena Football League for 16 seasons, including 13 with the Arizona Rattlers (1992-2004) and three with the Utah Blaze (2006-08). He guided the Rattlers to five ArenaBowl appearances, winning the Arena League championship twice (1994, 1997). A member of the Arena Football League Hall of Fame, his career regular season record was 142-82 (.634), and he led his teams to 15 playoff appearances, going 20-13 (.606).

As a collegian, White starred at Arizona State as quarterback and punter. He finished his three-year career with 6,717 passing yards and 64 touchdowns, while also averaging 41.7 yards per punt. The Sun Devils posted a 32-4 overall record during his time and won three Western Athletic Conference championships and three Fiesta Bowls. White finished his career as the NCAA’s all-time leading passer, one of seven national passing records he set at ASU.

In 1973, he was named First-Team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Newspaper Enterprise Association and Time Magazine as well as Second-Team All-America by United Press International and Associated Press. The WAC Offensive Player of the Year finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.

In 1997, White was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Additionally, he is a member of the State of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, an inaugural member of the Arizona State University Athletics Hall of Fame and had his No. 11 jersey retired at Arizona State. In 2000, he was named the Arizona Athlete of the Century by the Arizona Republic.

Previous winners of the Davey O’Brien Legends Award include Steve Bartkowski, Terry Bradshaw, Len Dawson, Doug Flutie, Dan Fouts, Bob Griese, Paul Hornung, Ron Jaworski, Jim Kelly, Eddie LeBaron, Archie Manning, Jim McMahon, Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Craig Morton, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Steve Spurrier, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Joe Theismann and Doug Williams.

White will be honored at the 47th Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner on Monday, Feb. 19, at The Fort Worth Club alongside 2023 National Quarterback Award winner Jayden Daniels of LSU and High School Scholarship recipient Josie Arbuckle of Greenhill School.

Individual tickets for the dinner may be purchased for $250 at www.DaveyOBrienAward.com. A limited number of tables (10 seats per table) are available for $2,500 each. For additional information, please email Trisha Branch at trisha@daveyobrien.org.