Dak Prescott Paid Touching On-Field Birthday Tribute to Late Mother

Peggy Prescott died from colon cancer in 2013, when her son was at Mississippi State.

Dak Prescott wore wrist tape featuring a happy birthday message to his mother, Peggy, who died of cancer in 2013. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Thursday was a big night for the football world as a whole, as it rung in the NFL season with the season opener between the Cowboys and Eagles in Philadelphia—a 24–20 win for the defending Super Bowl champions. The game took on added meaning for Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, who paid tribute to his mother Peggy with an on-field accessory on what would have been her 64th birthday.

Peggy Prescott died in 2013, while Dak was still playing at Mississippi State, from colon cancer.

"Happy Birthday Mom!" his wrist tape read during Thursday's game.

Dak Prescott’s mother, Peggy, would be 64 years old today.

Here’s the message on his wrist tape pic.twitter.com/jMdxh3YFUM

— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) September 5, 2025

Prescott has used his platform as Cowboys quarterback—one of the single biggest in all of sports—to advocate for cancer screening and prevention.

“After my mom got sick, she told me, ‘Allow me to be your story. All the greats have a story,’ ” Prescott told Sports Illustrated in 2017. “At that time I was like, ‘Hell no, I don't need a story if that means my mom is sick.’ But fast forward, and that's what I'm going to do. Because that was her—I wouldn't say wish—that was moreso her command to me.”

More than a decade later, on national television with the world eager to begin another football season, he did just that.

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed