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Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott Gets Brutally Honest

Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott Gets Brutally Honest

Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott Gets Brutally Honest

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is coming into arguably the most important NFL season of his professional career. He did not get the massive, long-term contract that he was hoping to attain from team owner Jerry Jones, and now he has to prove himself worthy of one.

Unfortunately, Prescott will embark on the task with a heavy heart.

This week, he revealed that his older brother, Jace, committed suicide over the summer.

“I’ll never get another hug in my life like the ones he gave,” Prescott said. “He was my best friend.”

The Cowboys quarterback acknowledged that his brother was dealing with a lot of pain.

“He had a lot of burdens on him,” he continued.

“He had a lot of tough things and my sense of saying that is it showed me how vulnerable we have to be as humans, how open we have to be. Our adversities, our struggles [and] what we go through is always gonna be too much for ourselves [and] maybe even one or two people, but never too much for a community or family you love. So you have to share those things.”

Jace had been tasked with taking care of his and Dak’s sick mother, Peggy, who later succumbed to colon cancer in 2013.

“He saw the times where she would have to spend probably 10-plus hours throwing up… and saw the medicine she had to take,’’ Prescott continued.

“[It’s] almost, you can’t even put into words, the burden. I mean, it’s something only Jace knew. And he didn’t necessarily share that.”

Prescott was asleep when he got the news from his father that his brother had taken his own life.

“I wanted to ask ‘Why?’ for so many reasons,” he admitted.

Now Prescott is picking up the pieces and trying to move on. It has been a difficult year for him, but he will not allow that to deter him from what he considers to be his path.

In 2019, the 27-year-old had objectively the best professional output of his career with the Cowboys. He recorded 4,902 yards and 30 touchdown passes, all the while being more careful with the ball and more efficient with his passing than he had ever been before. Unfortunately, due to a collapse by the team in the second half of the season, Dallas failed to make the playoffs. Their spot at the helm of the NFC East went to the Philadelphia Eagles, and head coach Jason Garrett was replaced by Mike McCarthy.

As a result, in the offseason, Prescott was not rewarded with the contract extension he was looking for. Instead he will play one more season on a $31.4 million exclusive franchise tag.

This year, Prescott aims to erase the bad memories and fix old mistakes. In one swoop he hopes to cope with the loss of his best friend, secure the biggest contract of his career, and lead the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl.

It’s a tall order, but the fourth-round draft pick is used to defying the odds. Many believed he would never be able to get this far.

“I seize the moment,” he said. “I focus on the now. I think it’s very important for me to do exactly that and not to be distracted or put too much focus anywhere other than what it is that I’m doing now.”

Dallas will kick its 2020 NFL season off on Sunday with a showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.

Related: Ben Roethlisberger Admits He’s Scared About New Steelers Season

Charles Kruger

Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7's go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.

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