I like him, but the same sort of problem when you look at the numbers.
More on Don Meredith and one of the things in regard to him which is overlooked was his leadership qualities:
Meredith’s teammates were inspired by his leadership. Pete Gent, a Cowboy wide receiver and tight end from 1964-1968, and later the best-selling author of “North Dallas Forty,” told NFL Films in 1969 that Meredith “has that inner something” and that “he intentionally plays the buffoon with the group” to help even the last players on the roster feel part of the team. By all the accounts I’ve heard, he was a wonderful teammate.
More than anything else, Meredith earned respect by repeatedly exhibiting one attribute: toughness. Few had more guts and courage, inside and outside the pocket. In his era, the rules didn’t protect the quarterback as they do today, and those that did weren’t strictly enforced. In those early years, the Cowboys’ offensive line wasn’t very good. Meredith often took a beating, but he never complained about it. According to Brandt, Meredith played a game against Washington in 1966 with broken ribs.
...The Cowboys suffered two excruciating losses to the Packers in the N.F.L. championship games of 1966 and 1967, and another playoff defeat to the Browns in 1968. As a result, Meredith was relentlessly criticized for the team’s failures, even though he made the Pro Bowl in all three years.
Just before the start of training camp in 1969, Meredith unexpectedly announced his retirement at age 31, in his prime.
Just when he was reaching his prime he had lead the Boys to two NFL championship games against the great Lombardi Packers and they were just barely beaten in those games. I will say it one more time--stats aren't everything because a quarterback's leadership abilities cannot be measured by stats.
There’s little doubt that by quarterbacking one of the N.F.L.’s most glamorous teams, and by helping broaden its appeal from the broadcast booth, Don Meredith played an important part in the growth in popularity of pro football, both on and off the field.
https://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/remembering-don-meredith-as-a-football-player/
Dandy Don might indeed belong in the NFL Hall of Fame more than any other NFL quarterback who is not enshrined there now.
