Rodney Peete's baseball catch has Cowboys fans recalling '94 stint with team

Over two decades after he last walked off a football field, Rodney Peete is having quite an unexpected moment back in the sports headlines once again.

The ex-NFL quarterback, who turned 59 over the weekend, showed up in Japan on Tuesday in support of the Los Angeles Dodgers as MLB's Tokyo Series pitted the defending World Series champs against the Chicago Cubs to open the 2025 regular season for both ballclubs.

And Peete wasn't just spotted in the bleachers. He made the catch of the night on a foul ball that carried into the seats on the third-base side, robbing Dodgers infielder Max Muncy of a chance at a putout.

Rodney Peete casually making the catch in front of Max Muncy 🤣 pic.twitter.com/16sGFvMqNT
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 19, 2025

According to wife Holly Robinson Peete, gloves were provided with the seats, ostensibly due to their close proximity to the field of play. And she says the ball was headed right for her until her husband made the rather nonchalant grab and then proceeded to stare down Muncy in what has already become something of a meme.

While much of the baseball world argued over whether Peete interfered with Muncy's play, football fans of a certain age collectively said out loud, "Rodney Peete! I remember that guy!"

But Cowboys fans, do you remember when he played for Dallas? Peete wore the star for just one season, but just like his happenstance foul-ball grab Tuesday night, he was right there in the background of more than a few of the watershed moments of the franchise's dynasty days.

Peete entered the league in 1989 after a decorated career at Southern California. He wrapped up his time at USC as the school's all-time leader in pass attempts, completions, passing yards, and starts. And as a senior, he finished second in Heisman Trophy voting, behind only winner Barry Sanders and just ahead of Troy Aikman.

But questions about his size and arm strength saw him drop all the way to the sixth round in the draft. Long after Aikman was the opening pick by Dallas and Sanders went third to Detroit, Peete was picked up 141st overall by the Lions. He spent the first five years of his career in the Motor City, going 21-26 in games he started. The Lions made the playoffs in two of the years Peete was with the team, but he did not make an appearance in either postseason.

Peete signed with the Cowboys prior to the 1994 season. Dallas was coming off its second straight Super Bowl win, head coach Jimmy Johnson had been replaced by Barry Switzer, and the team needed a new backup behind Aikman after Bernie Kosar had departed.

Wearing the No. 9 jersey that would be made famous by yet another Cowboys backup QB years later, Peete didn't see the field until Week 5 versus Washington and didn't attempt a pass until late in a Week 6 rout over the Cardinals. He went 12-of-19 passing for 186 yards and two scores in a Week 8 rematch with Arizona, coming on in relief of Aikman after No. 8 was knocked out by a hit. (It was after that win that Cowboys offensive lineman Erik Williams was seriously injured in his infamous car accident.)

Light mop-up duty followed in a Week 10 win over the Giants. But Peete again subbed in for Aikman during Week 12, this time for a sprained knee the starter suffered that day against Washington. Peete himself also went down, though, spraining the thumb on this throwing hand.

It was those two injuries combined that give the next start, the Cowboys' 1994 Thanksgiving Day game, to third-stringer Jason Garrett, in one of the most memorable games in franchise history.

Peete would make his only Cowboys start in Week 14, posting a 10-for-17, 172-yard, one-touchdown day against Philadelphia. He played again briefly in the regular-season finale, and then attempted two passes in Dallas's divisional-round playoff win over Green Bay.

They would prove to be Peete's last snaps with the team. Despite getting off to a nightmarish start and an early 21-0 hole the next week in muddy San Francisco, the Cowboys left Aikman in the NFC championship, and Peete's Dallas stint ended on the bench as the team lost out on a third straight Super Bowl trip.

Postseason included, Peete finished 33-of-58 passing for 470 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception as a Cowboy. Oddly, all seven of his regular-season game appearances wearing the star came against then-divisional opponents.

Peete went on to enjoy four more seasons with the Eagles, spent a season each with Washington and Oakland, and played three final years with Carolina before retiring prior to the 2005 season.

His pro résumé boasts 16,338 passing yards, placing him just outside the league's all-time top 150. Peete never made a Pro Bowl, but did finally get to a Super Bowl- XXXVIII- as the Panthers' backup in what would be his final game.

Peete didn't catch a lot of lucky breaks during his 15-year NFL career, but the slick baseball catch he snagged in Tokyo on Tuesday brought him- and his very short stint with the Cowboys- back into the spotlight, even if only briefly.

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys History: Rodney Peete's MLB catch recalls Cowboys backup QB

1d 4:51 PM ET ago

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