IRVING, Texas — When the third round of the NFL draft came to an end, so did Stephen McGee’s patience.

Already stung by a disappointing career at Texas A&M, the quarterback stormed out of his house, convinced a senior season lost to a shoulder injury had ruined his future.
Then Jerry Jones called.
Now a member of the Dallas Cowboys, McGee is still a long shot as a fourth-round pick who won’t be any higher than third on the depth chart behind Tony Romo and Jon Kitna. But at least the former Texas high school star from Burnet is where he wants to be.
“It’s very special to me,” said McGee, the first pick of the fourth round. “When I put this star on my helmet and strap it up for practice, there’s definitely a lot of pride because I’ve been following this team my whole life.”
Jones makes it sound as if the team is ready to give McGee a look. On draft day, the team owner said he liked McGee’s “nine-ish” qualities, a reference to Romo.
“I like the way, when plays broke down, the way he improvised,” Jones said. “I like the way he was able to clearly buy time with his mobility to throw the ball, not to run the ball.”
McGee was known more for his running than his throwing at A&M, where he finished with 4,889 yards passing and 1,800 yards rushing. When the Aggies started throwing less and losing more, he remained a loyal soldier for embattled coach Dennis Franchione.
In 2007, Texas A&M was coming off a pair of decent seasons soured by bad bowl losses when Franchione was caught in a midseason scandal over a newsletter sold to elite boosters that included information not available to the public.
McGee probably knew Franchione wouldn’t survive that season, particularly after the Aggies reached six losses for the third time in the coach’s five years. McGee didn’t have to wait long for the bright side, though, because the Aggies hired Mike Sherman, one of Brett Favre’s former coaches and a believer in the pass-oriented West Coast offense.
Sherman threw open the quarterback competition and McGee beat out Jerrod Johnson. McGee injured his shoulder in the second game, and Johnson did the same a week later. The season became something of a weekly soap opera on who would start.
By the end of the year, all McGee had left was a chance to beat Texas a third consecutive time when he replaced Johnson on the third series. The Longhorns won 49-9, finishing off Texas A&M’s 4-8 season.
“I would have liked to have won more games and thrown for a lot more yards,” McGee said. “The trials and adversity I faced motivate me as a person and even more so as a quarterback.”
They are also part of why Jones made McGee the Cowboys’ first drafted quarterback since Quincy Carter in 2001.
“What I like is that it hasn’t gone just right for him in any way and he’s been able to work through that and keep his chin up,” Jones said. “That’s a big plus for this game and what these guys are facing as rookies.”
McGee’s senior season surfaced again after the draft when Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who watched star quarterback Graham Harrell go undrafted, said the Cowboys liked McGee “more than his coaches at Texas A&M.”
“I’m not worried about it,” McGee said. “I tell people how important coach Sherman and coach Franchione have been in my career. If not for those guys, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”
McGee never was part of the conversation about star Big 12 quarterbacks in 2008, a group that included the Heisman Trophy winner (Sam Bradford of Oklahoma) and runner-up (Colt McCoy of Texas). He was also overshadowed by Harrell, the first two-time 5,000-yard passer in NCAA history, and Missouri’s Chase Daniel.
Even with his “nine-ish” qualities, he’s likely to spend at least a few years waiting behind Romo. That hasn’t affected his confidence.
McGee expects to start in the NFL and win Super Bowls. That’s plural, even though he’s not yet on the Cowboys’ roster and the team hasn’t won a playoff game since after the 1996 season.
“I do know people don’t believe in me and don’t think I’m a good quarterback,” he said. “I want to be the best quarterback in the NFL and that doesn’t change. Those things will always be with me and continue to motivate me for years to come.”