Last season, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott broke the franchise’s career passing yards record, and the Star-Telegram used that occasion to assess Prescott’s legacy.
We easily placed Prescott among the six greatest Cowboys QBs of all time. Super Bowl winners and Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach stand alone, followed in some order by Prescott, Don Meredith, Tony Romo and Danny White.
Morton produced one of the stranger careers in NFL history at quarterback, full of highs but with football immortality just out of reach.
He joins Hall of Famers Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner as the only quarterbacks to start for two franchises in Super Bowls, but unlike them, he never won one. And he didn’t just lose — he threw seven interceptions while his teams scored a combined 23 points.
In Super Bowl 5 in January 1971, Morton completed 12 of 26 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown with three interceptions in the Cowboys’ 16-13 loss to Baltimore.
In Super Bowl 12 in January 1978, Morton completed only 4 of 15 passes for 39 yards with four interceptions and was benched in the Denver Broncos’ 27-10 shellacking at the hands of the Cowboys and Staubach, the man who unseated Morton as Dallas’ starter.
But, Morton did start in two Super Bowls, and his 27,908 career passing yards, compiled over an 18-year career with the Cowboys, New York Giants and Broncos, rank him No. 71 in NFL history, just ahead of Joe Namath. He also earned a Super Bowl ring as Staubach’s backup in Super Bowl 6.
From a Cowboys perspective, Morton is the only quarterback besides Staubach and Aikman to start a Super Bowl, and his regular-season winning percentage (32-14-1, 69.1%) trails only Staubach (85-29, 74.6%) among full-time starters.
Morton also went 3-2 as a starter in the playoffs with the Cowboys and 5-5 for his career, matching White (5-5) and bettering Romo (2-4), Prescott (2-5) and Meredith (1-3).
Yes, you can poke holes in Morton’s playoff record with the Cowboys. Staubach relieved him in one of those starts, at San Francisco in the 1972 divisional playoffs, and deserves the credit for Dallas’ 30-28 comeback victory. And Morton didn’t have to do a whole lot in playoff victories over Detroit (5-0) and San Francisco (17-10) en route to Super Bowl 5.
But that’s Morton’s career in a nutshell. Usually winning, sometimes on the edge of greatness, sometimes failing on the big stage.
Craig Morton was a good NFL quarterback, better than the vast majority. He was more than simply the guy Roger Staubach replaced.
Cowboys fans shouldn’t dismiss his legacy.
Game schedule dates, times, locations
NEXT UP: Game dates, times, locations, channel
Rangers ▶
June 12 Boston 10, Rangers 1
June 13 Boston 6, Rangers 3
June 14 Rangers 6, Boston 4
June 15 Minnesota 4, Rangers 2
June 16 Minnesota 12, Rangers 2
June 18 vs. Minnesota, 1:35 p.m., RSN
June 19 vs. San Diego, 7:05 p.m., RSN
June 20 vs. San Diego, 3:05 p.m., RSN
June 21 vs. San Diego, 1:35 p.m., RSN
June 22 at Miami, 5:40 p.m., RSN
June 23 at Miami, 5:40 p.m., RSN
June 24 at Miami, 11:10 a.m., RSN
June 25 at Toronto, 6:07 p.m., RSN
June 26 at Toronto, 6:07 p.m., CW
June 27 at Toronto, 2:07 p.m., RSN
June 28 at Toronto, 12:37 p.m., RSN
June 29 at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m., ESPN
June 30 at Cleveland, 5:40 p.m., RSN
July 1 at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m., RSN
Wings▶
June 9 Minnesota 100, Wings 76
June 11 Wings 85, Phoenix 70
June 13 Portland 84, Wings 83
June 15 Wings 96, Las Vegas 66
June 17 Golden State 91, Wings 80
June 20 vs. Chicago, 7 p.m., CBS, Paramount+
June 22 at Seattle, 9 p.m., KFAA
June 25 at Las Vegas, 9 p.m., KFAA
June 28 vs. Minnesota, 1 p.m., CBS, Paramount+
July 2 at Connecticut, 7 p.m., KFAA, Amazon Prime Video
TCU Football ▶
2026 season
Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), 11 a.m., ESPN
Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, 7 p.m., ESPN+
Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA
Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA
Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA
Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA
Nov. 6 at Arizona, 9:15 p.m., ESPN
Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA
Nov. 21 vs. Utah, TBA
Nov. 26 at Texas Tech, 7 p.m., ESPN
Cowboys ▶
Sept. 13 at N.Y. Giants, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Sept. 20 vs. Washington, 3:25 p.m., Fox
Sept. 27 vs. Baltimore (at Rio de Janeiro), 3:25 p.m., CBS
Oct. 4 at Houston, 12 p.m., Fox
Oct. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, 7:15 p.m., Amazon Prime Video
Oct. 18 at Green Bay, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Oct. 26 at Philadelphia, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC
Nov. 1 vs. Arizona, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 8 at Indianapolis, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 15 vs. San Francisco, 3:25 p.m., Fox
Nov. 22 vs. Tennessee, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 26 vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m., Fox
Dec. 7 at Seattle, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC
Dec. 20 at L.A. Rams, 3:25 p.m., CBS
Dec. 27 vs. Jacksonville, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Jan. 3 vs. N.Y. Giants, 12 p.m., Fox
Jan. 9 or 10 at Washington, TBA
World Cup ▶
All local matches at AT&T Stadium
Group stage
June 14 Japan 2, Netherlands 2 (Group F)
June 17 England 4, Croatia 2 (Group L)
June 22 Argentina vs. Austria (Group J), 12 p.m., Fox
June 25 Japan vs. Sweden (Group F), 6 p.m., FS1
June 27 Argentina vs. Jordan (Group J), 9 p.m., Fox
Knockout round
June 30 Round of 32: Group E runner-up vs. Group I runner-up, 12 p.m., Fox
July 3 Round of 32: Group D runner-up vs. Group G runner-up, 1 p.m., Fox
July 6 Round of 16: Teams TBD, 2 p.m., Fox
July 14 Semifinal: Teams TBD, 2 p.m., Fox
FC Dallas ▶
May 2 FC Dallas 2, NY Red Bulls 0
May 9 FC Dallas 3, Salt Lake 1
May 13 Vancouver 3, FC Dallas 2
May 16 FC Dallas 3, San Jose 2
May 23 FC Dallas 2, Colorado 1
World Cup break
July 22 at Portland, 9:30 p.m., Apple TV
July 25 at San Diego, 8:30 p.m., FS1, Apple TV
Texas Motor Speedway ▶
June 20 Team Texas - David Starr's Racing School
June 20 Drift n Drag
July 11 NASCAR Racing Experience
July 11 Hearts in High Gear
July 25 Drift n Drag
This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 1:42 PM.
Jim Barnes is the Star-Telegram’s sports editor. A Fort Worth native and graduate of Castleberry High School, he returned to Texas after 13 years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He previously was sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald and a freelance high school sports reporter for The Dallas Morning News.
