5 Most disappointing Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks of all-time
By Randy Gurzi
5. Drew Henson (2004)
During Bill Parcells tenure, he tried several different quarterbacks in Dallas. He signed players such as Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe who each had their own share of ups and downs but neither were expected to be anything more than what they proved to be — bridge quarterbacks.
Parcells landed these vets to hold the spot while he looked for a young starter and one player who he had high hopes for was Drew Henson, a former baseball player who was also a quarterback at Michigan.
Henson split time with Tom Brady collegiately and after retiring from baseball, there was hope that he could be a similar style player for the Cowboys — remember at this time, Brady had won a Super Bowl but hadn’t become the player we think of today.
In the 2003 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans used a sixth-round pick on Henson, not knowing whether or not he would ever give up baseball and pursue the NFL. That proved to be a smart move on their part as the Cowboys surrendered a third-round pick to them once Henson decided to give football another try.
A third-round pick was a lot to give up for a player who hadn’t played a down of NFL football yet and spent the past year away from the game, but desperation caused Dallas to do some crazy things in those years. The price they paid also suggested there were big plans for him to be the future of the team, but nothing close to that ended up happening.
Instead, Henson started just one game in his two seasons on the roster and completed just 10-of-18 passing attempts for 78 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Dallas sent him to the NFL Europe to work on his skills in 2006 but was waived shortly after.
He threw just two more passes in his career, for the Detroit Lions in 2008. That was his final season in the NFL.