The Quarterback, which reaches its tenth season with Dallas, has found the balance between being a family and star of the NFL
Oxnard – ends the first practice of the training camp of the Dallas Cowboysy Dak Prescott It goes immediately to the fence behind one of the annotation areas.
There, he greets his fiancee, Sarah Jane Ramos, and her daughters, MJ and Aurora, newborn. For 15 minutes, Dak Prescott He sits with his family, occasionally chasing a smiling MJ.
During those brief moments, it is not the quarterback of the “America of America“. It is simply the father of a couple of girls.
In 2016, his rookie year, Dak Prescott He saw Jason Witten play with his four children, including CJ (first -year supporter at Rice) and Cooper (also supporter and one of the best high school recruits of class 2027). Dak Prescott It was only a fourth draft Cowboys.
Now, Dak Prescottthe cowboy with more time in the team and that turns 32 on Tuesday, has another perspective.
“I am achieving that true balance“He said.” I think it's healthy. Now, when I can get away from this building and from here, my mind can get away, something I didn't do before.
“I think that could be harmful sometimes. (Now) it's not about giving things too much, thinking too much about what you want.
At the beginning of his tenth year, Dak Prescott Just yearn for one thing: a Super Bowl. He is not afraid to say, despite having a 2-5 record in postseason, and that Cowboys They have not advanced to the game for the NFC championship or have won a Lombardi trophy since 1995.
He won the Walter Payton Award for the NFL year of the year in 2022. He has been selected for the Pro Bowl three times. He was second in the vote to the most valuable player (MVP) in 2023. He has the team record in Touchdown passes in a single season (37), and this year he could become the historical leader of the franchise in yards per pass and touchdowns.
“What I have done or achieved really does not weigh me, so I cannot say that not having it overwhelms me or anything,” he said Dak Prescott. “That is motivation, right? It is the truth that you carry inside. It is to want it.
“That is what drives me to be better every day.”
Dak Prescott It is healthy after missing nine games in 2024 due to an injury in the tendon of the right corva that required surgery. But it will have limitations.
“Now that he is in the club of those over 30, we will be intelligent with some of the things we do with him,” said chief coach Brian Schottenheimer. “He is against that. He wants to do as much as possible. Seriously, Dak understands that there is an intelligent way to train.
Although Dak is not going to like it so much, he is very aware that we are going to be intelligent with what he does.
Does not deliver the ball in each individual exercise with the runners. Does not launch all passes to receptors for launch exercises. When the entire offensive performs a series of exercises, Dak Prescott He is a “animator”, encouraging them all funny, as if he were riding on horseback.
“What I have to do is be myself, have fun in the training and enjoy my classmates. They told me not to do those exercises just for health. So, well, I'm not going to sit down, crossing my arms and looking at Dak Prescott. “The objective of the exercise is to start, encourage the boys and fill us with energy to start training. If I have to be the animator, that's what I'm going to do.”
Until now in the camp, Dak Prescott He has worked lower than in the shotgun formation. Schottenheimer and field marshal coach Steve Shimko have made a subtle adjustment in the foot game Dak Prescott When it is in the shotgun formation. Its “here we go” rhythm remains, but now there are other rhythms.
“This boy is a perfectionist. For someone with so many achievements and who has done what he has done, he reminds me a lot of when he was with Andrew Luck (former Quarterback of the NFL),” Schottenheimer said. “A boy who has been very successful, but who is willing to try anything you propose …
In the end, however, Dak Prescott It will be evaluated by the super bowls won or not. It is a reality that accepted a long time ago.
He doesn't care not to have been in the Top 10 of Quarterbacks in a survey of ESPN to executives, coaches and cazatalents of the league.
“Motivated? That is temporary,” he replied when asked if not being on the list motivated him. “I don't think I really cared a list. It was, what? The ninth player when they chose me (in the draft). The list changes (for) each person you ask. The list changes every year.
“With the injuries, obviously the list should change. As young and new players arrive, the list is going to change. It is not something that really gives importance. I know who I am. I have confidence in myself. It is simply to continue improving, be healthy and grow, and make sure to be the best player, field marshal and leader that can be for this team. That is the list that matters to me.”
They asked him what motivated him now, and his answer lasted almost two minutes. He focused on winning.
“Ten years later and I am ready to play another 10, but I want to win first of all now. And that is the urgency that I have with love and passion for this game,” he said Dak Prescott. “I don't just want to win for me, but for this organization. It has been a lot of time … We have to keep that in mind. That's why I said what Tyler Smith said (the expectation is to win a Super Bowl).
When you think something, it's good, but when you think about it, it's powerful. When we get a hundred people to think about it, it can happen. That's what it is about. “
