Why Roger Staubach is the 'Most Underappreciated QB in History'

Every time someone posts a list of the Greatest Quarterbacks of All Time, I wince … and not so much because of who’s included. But because of who’s not.

Like Roger Staubach.

All the guy did when he was the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys was go to four Super Bowls in eight years, win two of them and win 74.6 percent of his regular-season starts and nearly twice as many playoff games as he lost (11-6).

He was a six-time Pro Bowler. He won four NFL passing titles. He was named to the 1970s’ all-decade team. He was named to the NFL’s 100^th anniversary team. He was named to the College Football Hall of Fame. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Whew.

Anything we missed? Well, yes: Staubach’s name in those Greatest-of All-Time roll-calls making the rounds these day … and that’s more than inane.

It’s downright insane.

“(Roger Staubach),” Dallas GM Tex Schramm once said, “was the greatest sports hero of his time.”

Sound familiar? It’s what we say about the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes today and Tom Brady yesterday. But you hear their names daily. You never hear of Staubach, and I get it. He played over four decades ago -- ancient history to many of today’s football media and fans. 

But history is what all-time lists are all about, and stop me when you find Roger Staubach. You can’t. He’s the most overlooked … underrated …and forgotten quarterback of all time.

I’m sorry, but that makes no sense.

Staubach could do it all. He could run, hence the “Roger the Dodger” nickname. He was such an accurate passer that he led the league in passer rating four of his eight years as a starter. He was so adept at rallying Dallas to last-gasp victories that he was also dubbed “Captain Comeback.” He even contributed to the NFL vocabulary, introducing the term "Hail Mary" after rescuing Dallas with a last-second heave vs. Minnesota in the 1975 playoffs.

And, of course, he could win.

And win.

And win.

And win.

Former coach Herm Edwards had it right when he said, “You play to win the game,” and Staubach did. He was 85-29 in his regular-season career, a 74.5 winning percentage that ranks third all time, behind only Otto Graham (81.4) and Tom Brady (75.4).

But there’s more. 

-- He won a Super Bowl at the age of 35 and was a top-five finisher in MVP voting at 36 and 37.

-- He had the league's best passer rating his last two years of play.

-- He threw for more TDs in each of those two years (25 in 1978; 27 in 1979) than in any previous season.

-- And in his last regular-season game, he threw for 336 yards and three TDs in a 35-34 come-from-behind defeat of Washington.

When he retired, he left with a career passer rating of 83.4 … and I know what you’re thinking: Big deal. As a matter of fact, it was. It was then the highest rating in NFL history.

“He’s one of the most important players of his era,” said former NFL executive Upton Bell. “He was what we see today. He perfected the shotgun and had everything – good arm, escape and the ability to runThink Mahomes, (Josh) Allen, (Trevor) Lawrence as the successors to Staubach.”

But if he was so magnificent, you might ask, why was he a Cowboys’ starter for only eight years? Shouldn’t longevity be a consideration? It is … except not here. Staubach wasn’t able to join the NFL until he was 27 because he was busy elsewhere.

With the U.S. Navy.

After graduating from the Naval Academy (where he won the Heisman Trophy), he served in Vietnam before returning to the United States and completing his tour at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. He resigned his naval commission in 1969 and within two years was the Cowboys’ starter … at the age of 29, or two years older than Mahomes.

The rest you know.

“He’s the most underappreciated quarterback in history,” said Hall-of-Fame voter Rick Gosselin of rickgosselin.com. “He has the third-best winning percentage. He won four passing titles, went to four Super Bowls and won two. Yet he was a guy who started at 29.

“So what if we gave him those first eight years of a career and doubled what he did? You’d be talking about him and Brady as to who’s the best?”

Instead, we’re talking about Brady and everyone but Roger Staubach.

When ESPN's Dan Orlovsky earlier this month compiled a list of the five greatest quarterbacks ever, he omitted Joe Montana, apparently forgetting that he won more Super Bowls (4) than anyone not named Brady.

OK, so maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it was amnesia. I don't know. But when you omit the names of Montana, Unitas, Graham and Staubach, it's more than either.

It's lunacy.  

It's another signal that, for whatever reason, Roger Staubach has vanished from the collective memory of too many people outside Texas. All these Top-Five and Top-Ten quarterback lists are the proof. But examine his body of work, dial him up on You Tube, then draw your own conclusions.

My guess is you’ll know: Roger Staubach deserves better. Much better.