FRISCO, Texas — Video of George Pickens missing the ball entirely on a tee shot reached social media Tuesday, and by Wednesday both Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks on the trip had been asked about it at The Star.
Sam Howell was standing a few feet away when it happened. He and Dak Prescott are audible in the clip offering Pickens swing advice, and Pickens connected on his next attempt.
Howell has played golf with Prescott a few times since signing in Dallas in March.
“It was fun. Yeah, it was fun. We had a good time,” Howell said. “A little bit of golf, a little bit of fun, and we got some work out there as well. So it was a fun trip. But getting on the golf course with those guys was fun, man. You can tell those guys don’t play very much, but it’s cool to see how golf can bring people together. And we were fortunate where we all kind of got to play together, as you probably saw in the video. It was a good time. Those times are times you’ll never forget.”
The group traveled to Utah in late August, after the Cowboys broke camp in Oxnard, California, and before the preseason finale. The clip was posted Tuesday by the Sleeper Cowboys account on X.
Sam Howell On The Swing Itself
The group got some work in on the trip, and Howell said the players on it do not play much golf.
“We were trying to work on it a little bit,” Howell explained. “It got better throughout the day, that’s for sure.”
Pickens is playing the season on the franchise tag. Dallas applied the tag in February, could not reach a long-term deal before the deadline, and Pickens signed the $27.3 million tender on April 29. He is scheduled for free agency in March.
Quinnen Williams On The Verdict
Quinnen Williams had seen the clip by Wednesday and did not know how long Pickens has been playing.
“I wonder if that was his first swing. If that was his first swing, I enjoyed it. I hope he enjoyed it,” Williams said. “And if it was like his 100th swing, if he’s been playing about a year, he needs to get lessons.”
Williams was asked about the swing in a separate session Wednesday. He is a golfer himself.
Pickens set career highs across the board in his first Dallas season, catching 93 passes for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns on 137 targets. He made the Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro. Dallas acquired him from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 2025 trade. Pittsburgh drafted him 52nd overall in 2022.
Pickens has 267 career receptions for 4,270 yards and 21 touchdowns across four seasons. He won a national championship at Georgia in the 2021 season and grew up in Hoover, Alabama.
Howell won the Cowboys backup quarterback job Monday when Dallas waived Joe Milton III. Prescott is entering his 11th season and has not appeared in a preseason game since 2019.
Howell finished the preseason 27-of-40 for 314 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, and threw for 155 yards with two scores in the Aug. 28 finale against the New Orleans Saints at AT&T Stadium. Dallas signed him on March 10 to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million guaranteed.
Williams signed a three-year, $105.9 million extension on Aug. 10 that runs through 2030. Dallas held the first three weeks of camp in Oxnard before moving practices to The Star in Frisco.
Dallas opens the regular season Sunday, Sept. 13, at the New York Giants. Kickoff is set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
