The (Allegedly) Mixed Emotions Of Cowboys QB Dak Prescott
FRISCO - Clint Longley had nothing to lose.
Thanksgiving Day, 1974, the Dallas Cowboys vs. The Washington Football Club, and QB Roger Staubach is knocked out of the game with Dallas trailing 16-3 in the third quarter. His replacement, unknown Clint Longley, orchestrates a last-second victory, and offensive lineman Blain Nye was left to explain the phenomenon.
"We just witnessed,'' Nye quipped, "the triumph of the uncluttered mind.”
Dak Prescott, for all of his modern-day attributes, is not armed with the advantage of "the uncluttered mind.''
Prescott, who turns 27 at the end of July, is in many ways wise beyond his years. As a man, he is bright and alert and curious and aware. As a football player, he is both accomplished and developing. He seems at peace with himself, even with the personal strife (the well-documented 2013 death of his mother, and this offseason, the passing of brother Jace) and the professional strife (his $31.409 million one-year franchise tag contract for 2020 is a "controversial'' one).
Dak Prescott's life is "cluttered.'' He ... has a lot on his plate.
Part of the "clutter'' - indeed, part of the reason high-profile athletes make the big bucks - is the way attention magnetizes itself to them.
That explains why, even as Prescott himself told our pal Jane Slater that he's "grateful and blessed'' to be a Cowboy, our respected 105.3 The Fan colleague Bryan Broaddus can report that according to a former Dallas coach, Prescott was unhappy that Jason Garrett was dismissed and that at this moment he's not especially in love with being aligned with the Cowboys.
"'At this point, no, I don't think so," an unnamed former Cowboys coach told Broaddus when asked, "Does he want to be here?'' "'However, he won't say it or show it. The kid is a stud and is mentally strong.'"
To which Dak's brother Tad Prescott responds on Twitter with a "FAKE NEWS'' emoji.
Of course, this is the same Tad Prescott who understandably demonstrated his raw emotion immediately following the Cowboys' failure to seal a long-term deal with Dak by ripping the Dallas organization.
"There is a reason I was never a Cowboys fan growing up or before they drafted Dak,'' Tad wrote. "After today, who knows how much longer I’ll be cheering for them.
To top off this emotional time, Dak Prescott - unquestionably a leader by nature and a leader of this organization - used Twitter as his playground to exchange opinions with pal and teammate Ezekiel Elliott, ultimately issuing a powerful and positive proclamation on the eve of the start of this oddest of training camps:
"Our best ball is yet to come!''
So, which angle is true?
Is Dak happy or sad?
Grieving or celebrating?
Disappointed or excited?
Based on the decidedly cluttered world Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott occupies, I believe the correct answer is "yes.''
