ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott woke up Sunday more emotional than usual. By the end of the day, he had thrown four touchdown passes, broken Tony Romo’s Dallas Cowboys record with his 249th in a 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders, and felt his late mother, Peggy, with him on the throw that did it.
Peggy Prescott died in 2013, while her son was at Mississippi State. Prescott said he thanked God in his head before the snap on the touchdown to Jake Ferguson that tied the record.
“I don’t know. I woke up this morning just a little emotional, way more than normal. And I don’t know if it had a part in. God knew it was going to happen today and I was going to break this record and have to talk to you guys or not. And so, yeah, I don’t know,” Prescott said. “I just felt it, and actually the touchdown to Jake right before that play, or I broke that huddle, I felt like that was the touchdown to tie it. I literally in my head said, ‘Thank you, God,’ before I even snapped the ball, and it happened. And then on this drive I was kind of like, ‘God, if you’ve got it in store for me, let’s break this thing and just get it over with.’”
“And the moment it happened, yeah, I just felt my mom,” Prescott continued. “My mom was never short or never hesitant to tell me how proud she was of me. She was never, never, never short of that. And I could just hear that. And that’s enough. Thankful that my teammates, my coaches, and everybody believe in me and all that, but that’s enough. I heard that my whole life growing up, and I hear it now as loud as I’ve ever heard it. I’m just blessed.”
Dak Prescott Traces His Belief To His Mother And Brothers
Dallas drafted Prescott 135th overall in 2016, and he opened his first training camp fourth on the depth chart. He is 33 now and holds the franchise marks for passing yards, touchdown passes, completions, pass attempts, and completion percentage. He credited the belief he had as a kid in Louisiana to his mother and brothers.
“Yeah, absolutely. And that’s credit to my mom. That’s credit to my brothers. I said I would do some of these things when I was a little kid. Being naive is great. Jerry said that one of the openers to a Hard Knocks, one of the Hard Knocks episodes, and I thought it was amazing. Sometimes it’s great being naive,” Prescott explained. “And I was a little naive just growing up, thinking that I could do this and I could do that, but yet I think it puts such a insurmountable belief in my head that I can accomplish whatever I want to accomplish. Any thought that I said or anything that I wanted to do, and I mentioned it and I said it out loud, I had a mom and I had brothers who poured gas on those thoughts, who told me I could.”
“And as I said, you can call it arrogance, you can call it confidence, belief, whatever you need to. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have those thoughts, if I didn’t believe in myself like that,” Prescott continued. “And I just encourage the next little kid out there who comes from the trailer park in Louisiana or wherever he may come from and doesn’t know if he can do it or have the resources or have the family that you’re right, like, believe in what you want to believe in and find the people that support that, and you can do it.”
“That’s what makes me so emotional. As I said, I want to double this number, but to even be in this position, now being 33 years old, and just thinking back of like, why did I think like that?” Prescott continued. “And it’s because of my mom. It’s because of my brothers. It’s because of the people that are surrounded by, not just them, my friends, my teammates in high school, middle school, whatever it may be. And, yeah, I truly, truly believe I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have those thoughts. And so naive, arrogance, whatever you want to call it, I’m thankful that I did, and they’re not going to stop.”
Dak Prescott’s Message To His 2016 Self
When Prescott reached the sideline after the record throw and teammates came to him, the first 10 years started running through his head.
“Yeah, I mean, when I threw it and got to the sideline and all the guys were coming up to me, even then, some of those memories and flashback, like I said, flashback to the first touchdown [I’ve] thrown against these guys 10 years ago. Some of those memories, highlight reels, or whatever you want to call it, rolled in your head. And, yeah, it’s a reminder, but I don’t do it often,” Prescott said. “For one, yeah, it makes me emotional, knowing everything that I’ve been through, everything that it took to even get into the NFL, and the doubters, whatever it may be, and just the constant belief in yourself, and shows me how great God is, and when you believe in yourself and you’re founded and you’ve got strong faith, what can happen.”
“But as I said, this is just a step. This is something that back then at 23 years old, I was pretty confident then and maybe even a little bit more arrogant, I would say, than I am today. And so I would have told you then, if you really asked me that, I was going to do this, and I don’t think that I would be here if I didn’t think that way back then,” Prescott continued. “So I’m blessed to be in this position years later. And like I said, I want so much more.”
Prescott was 23 as a rookie in 2016, the season he took over as the starter after Romo’s preseason injury. He knows what he would tell that version of himself.
“Just to keep going. That you’re right. Kind of what I was saying earlier. I don’t think I’d be in this position if I didn’t have those thoughts, the belief, and the confidence in myself then. So it would be a simple conversation of keep going,” Prescott said. “Adversity is going to happen. It’s inevitable. It already happened at that age. And so just understand when it happens, don’t change your approach to responding to it. And that’s what I tell myself again today.”
CeeDee Lamb, who caught the record pass, went looking for the ball after the play and brought it to Prescott on the sideline. Prescott has it now, along with his game jersey.
“Yeah, it’s awesome that he went to go look for it. It just kind of goes in, as I was saying, the way that my teammates react is humbling and makes me as emotional as anything to see how much they care for it. And it’ll be a good keepsake,” Prescott said. “Obviously, I’ve got it. I’ve got my jersey. It’s not something I’m rushing to get framed or put up. I don’t have a place for it yet. I mean, I’m not even in my house.”
“Yeah, so it just [will] collect dust until my girls get old enough and they care to show somebody and show it off,” Prescott continued. “I’ve got the memories. I’ve got the relationships that show what that football with the jersey means. It’s just a sign of it that it will collect dust, and it will be a beautiful dust collector.”
The Cowboys face the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 27 in Rio de Janeiro at 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS.
