ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott walked into his postgame press conference Sunday in a Roger Staubach jersey after his 249th career touchdown pass broke Tony Romo’s Dallas Cowboys record in a 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders. He had talked about Staubach with teammates throughout the week, and he picked the home opener to wear the No. 12.
“I mean, we were just talking about it throughout the week. He’s just on my mind and, yeah, home opener. I knew that this was an opportunity to break this record. And just felt right. Just felt right,” Prescott said. “As I said, I mean, he’s the standard. He was the first great, great, great one here, right? And I think he still is.”
“And as we know, I was schooling up Q on the history of him, to win the Heisman, to go serve for our country, and then to come back, win two Super Bowls, be the man that he is, be as great as he is off the field, do so much for the community,” Prescott continued. “He’s the epitome of what a Dallas Cowboys quarterback should be, and he’s who I’m chasing. And so I’m thankful for the relationship that we do have. And, yeah, I just wanted to support him.”
Dak Prescott Now One Win Behind Roger Staubach
Staubach threw 153 touchdown passes for Dallas, Danny White threw 155, Troy Aikman threw 165, and Romo threw 248. Prescott threw four Sunday, to CeeDee Lamb twice and Jake Ferguson twice, and now holds the franchise marks for passing yards, touchdown passes, completions, pass attempts, and completion percentage. Washington was also the opponent for his first NFL touchdown, a 6-yard run on Sept. 18, 2016.
“I’m blessed, honored,” Prescott explained. “As I’ve told you earlier in the week, records are meant to be broken. This is my time to break this one. Pretty cool to do it against the team I [threw] my first touchdown against, what, 10 years ago or so. So definitely humbling. Something I don’t take for granted, the great history of this organization, of the past quarterbacks before me, obviously wearing, to me, the greatest one, right?”
“And so super, super honored, super thankful. God’s great,” Prescott continued. “I’m not taking it lightly, but as I told you all, it’s just the beginning. I want to double it. I plan to play for a while, so just getting started.”
Regular-season wins are the one major Cowboys passing category Prescott does not hold. Sunday’s victory was his 84th, one behind Staubach’s 85 and 10 behind Aikman’s 94.
Dak Prescott On How He Wants To Be Remembered
Staubach last played for Dallas in 1979, nearly 14 years before Prescott was born, and what Prescott knows of him as a player comes mostly from film. Prescott said he had to walk a teammate through that history this week, which shaped how he thinks about his own place in the record book decades from now.
“I really don’t think about that. I don’t. It’s not that I don’t care, but for me it’s about being present. When I hear that Jake pivots that conversation there, I see the way that my teammates react in the locker room or when I score that touchdown, that’s enough for me,” Prescott said. “That’s more than enough for me that when I’m done playing this game or when I’m not here anymore, life’s life, and life’s going to continue to go on. People are going to look up history. People are going to believe what they want to believe.”
“The simple fact that I actually had to explain Roger’s history to a teammate, there’s going to be Cowboy players that don’t give a damn or know who I am one day,” Prescott continued. “And so I just want to be present as much as I can every second and every opportunity that I have, and I think that’ll be enough.”
Prescott finished 26-of-31 for 279 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. The Cowboys, 1-1, face the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 27 in Rio de Janeiro at 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS.
