Why Dak Prescott Thinks Talking Openly About the Super Bowl Is Best for the Cowboys

OXNARD, Calif. — Dak Prescott strode across the California tarmac wearing shades, a broad smile, and a T-shirt that would steal the show before training camp even opened.

Emblazoned across it: Dallas Cowboys, Super Bowl XXX Champions.

That was the last of three championships for a short-circuited dynasty, fronted by Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith, and it’s also the last one won by America’s Team. With 60 of those title games in the books, it’s been half the Super Bowl era since Dallas took home the ultimate prize. And for the Cowboys’ 33-year-old quarterback, wearing the shirt was as intentional as taking a checkdown against a Cover 2 defense.

Make no mistake. Prescott wanted everyone to get the message. Teammates. Coaches. Fans. Well-wishers. Critics. He’ll be the first to tell all of them that now is the time. It’s been too long for the franchise he leads, so he might as well acknowledge it.

“Why are we hesitant to say that that’s what we’re playing for?” Prescott asks. “I don’t know if it’s just getting older, having kids and blatantly not giving a f--- what other people think, but if that’s what this is about, then why is anybody being hesitant about it? And why is it, honestly, such a big deal even saying it? So my point is, let’s put it out there. Like, I’m a big manifester. I wouldn’t be here in my life if I didn’t think I would be here, going back to being a little kid.

“I mean, people ask me all the time. A lot of times they ask this question, [and] they expect a ‘No, not at all’—Did you ever expect your life to be like this? And I go, Damn near to the smallest detail. Like, I’ve had cars that I’ve only got because I said I’d have them when I was 7 years old. So to say I was going to be a Super Bowl champion and play like this, that’s also something I said. So why don’t I own that as much as I own other things?”

Prescott is owning it, as he enters his second decade in the NFL.

To be sure, his first decade was filled with accomplishments. He became the Cowboys’ Week 1 quarterback as a fourth-round rookie. He’s made the playoffs five times and was the starter for two of the team’s four playoff wins since the aforementioned Triplets walked away. He was Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2016, and has been selected to four Pro Bowls. He’s the Cowboys’ all-time leader in passing yards and completion percentage.

If he retired tomorrow, his name would be in the Ring of Honor at AT&T Stadium. But none of that is why he plays. And with the 2026 season on the horizon, this shift in approach to aggressively verbalizing his goals publicly is, again, no slip of the tongue.

He sees it as what’s best for his team.

“It’s not something that I’ve never said before, either,” he said. “And so I think my point with that is, you say it over here in this group and in this circle, you say it within your family, but you get outside of your house, and nobody wants that. Then when they say it, you look at your family like, No, f---ing right, I said that. And so I think that’s where I’m at. What I’m getting at is we’ve said it and we’ve said it with different teams and we said it amongst our teams, but it’s, Hey, be careful of how you say it to the media, because if you say it, then they expect you to [accomplish it].

“Like, yeah, absolutely. Because when we’re not there, or we lose in the playoffs, then they’re going to ride our ass anyway. So why not wear it? Why not be proud of this is our goal; we’re going to manifest it, we’re trying our damnedest to get there.”

Here’s the other thing—Prescott also believes the group around him can handle it, and “I guess part of me getting older is if you can’t handle it, we need to find out earlier than later. I don’t care if you can’t handle it at this point, because I can, and this team needs to, this organization needs to, because that is what gets put on us.”

Which brings you to his reality, and the spotlight on the Cowboys every year.

Last year, more than most, he recalls the wild swings in public sentiment over the team. How even the betting odds on Dallas would swing wildly as the talk-show segments did, in a way they wouldn’t for any other team. And there’s a reality to that, too, if you’re one of the players who has to hear that on a day-to-day basis.

“Probably in the past, yeah, like, Oh, I don’t know if this guy can handle it,” Prescott says. “Well, if you can’t, then you can’t play for this team. And it’s been shown, different seasons, you watch guys, it affects guys. So, for me, I’m going to bring this attention to you fast now and as much as you’re ever going to get it, because it’s not going to stop.”

And this unique approach has an interesting backer—Prescott’s head coach.

Embracing expectations

Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer — Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer on Dak Prescott: "I think Dak’s more comfortable speaking out because Dak’s the all-time passing leader in franchise history. He’s all those things, but how do you become a forever—not a legend—but you have a legacy?” | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Brian Schottenheimer loves that Prescott is talking this way.

As he sees it, it’s putting urgency on a locker room led by a group of players that understand that the shots they’ll get at this aren’t endless. Quinnen Williams, imported from the Jets, has never played in a playoff game. Jalen Thompson, coming over from the Cardinals, has played in one. Conversely, Kenny Clark, over a decade, has been to three NFC title games, but never a Super Bowl. Prescott’s the only player left on the Dallas roster who’s won more than one playoff game with a star on his helmet.

So, no, Schottenheimer doesn’t mind when his quarterback is projecting that sense of urgency onto his teammates.

“I love it. I mean, let’s be honest. At the end of the day, it’s why we all do this,” he said. “It’s what we all are working for. It’s what we all sacrifice for. Only one team’s going to have it happen—but what else is there for Dak Prescott to do? Quinnen Williams has never been in a playoff game. I like our guys talking about it. I started my opening press conference saying we want to build the greatest culture in professional sports and win a world championship. Didn’t do it last year. Wasn’t a success. Wasn’t good enough.

“But you keep working. And you trust the process. We’re not winning the Super Bowl today. We’re not winning it next week. We’re not winning it in September. But if that’s not the goal? That’s the way I was raised. I think Dak’s more comfortable speaking out because Dak’s the all-time passing leader in franchise history. He’s all those things, but how do you become a forever—not a legend—but you have a legacy?”

Prescott’s known the answer to that question for a long time, and he knows how hanging three banners affected the legacy of the leaders of that Super Bowl XXX team.

Moreover, he sees a crew of leaders who can handle and embrace expectations.

Schottenheimer’s effort to build, as he put it, the greatest culture in professional sports has started to take root on the roster. Williams, Thompson and Clark were all team captains in their previous homes. First-round pick Caleb Downs might have had the cleanest character profile of any player in the 2026 draft. Last year’s first-rounder, Tyler Booker, carried that sort of reputation into the 2025 draft, and is already on the team’s leadership council.

“I love it. I mean, let’s be honest. At the end of the day, it’s why we all do this. It’s what we all are working for. It’s what we all sacrifice for. Only one team’s going to have it happen—but what else is there for Dak Prescott to do?”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer

That doesn’t mean every player on the roster is that way. But the guys at the front of the room are, and that’s meant, as Prescott leads this way, he doesn’t have to be the only voice.

“It was exhausting at times when this is how I feel, this is what I’m doing. And you’ve got guys that aren’t on that same page,” Prescott said. “Now, yeah, the natural conversations in the locker room are different, and it’s no knock to any of the guys we’ve had in the past. It’s a credit to Schotty. It’s a credit to the Joneses, a credit to [exec] Will McClay, those guys for getting the guys with the right makeup and the guys who aren’t afraid to say, This is what I want, but I know I’ve got to outwork everybody to go and get it.

“That’s their DNA, the Tyler Bookers, to get an older vet like Kenny Clark, who, like me, hadn’t been there, but wants it as much as anything. Rashan Gary, you got Cobie Durant, guys who have made some runs, who are right there wanting it more than ever.”

And maybe the best sign is that, at least at this early juncture, it seems like everyone is following their lead.

To that end, on the day I was in California, the Cowboys wrapped a long practice on a hot day with a set of wind sprints, something you won’t see all that often in an NFL training camp in 2026. It wasn’t the first time they’d done it, early in camp, and wouldn’t be the last, which, to Prescott, didn’t really seem to be a problem for anyone running them,

“We know that these things that we’re talking about are the standards that ultimately are going to get us to the Super Bowl,” he says. “Conditioning at the end of practice, hard as a motherf-----. Trust me, do I want to do it? No. But when you do that yesterday and come into the locker room, and you don’t hear any bitching, you hear a guy like George Pickens say, Man, the last time I ran like that is when I won a national championship with Georgia? Like, that’s what you want. You don’t want, Ah, f---, we had to run two more reps.

“No, bro. If you want something worth having, you have to work hard for it. There’s no shortcuts to it.”

Prescott’s always done that. It’s early. But the signs are good that he’s got a team of guys that are going to keep doing it with him.

Prescott racing ‘against the clock’

His NFL career launched like a rocket, so, yes, there was a time when it felt to Prescott like his playoff losses—like the shootout with Aaron Rodgers at the end of his rookie season, or the Rams’ handling of Dallas after the 2018 season—were precursors to an endless series of shots at Lombardi Trophies.

He now knows better, and that’s part of the equation here, too.

“I’m going into my second decade,” he said. “And as you said, in the first 10, I had the most success early. But then after that, for the next six, I mean, we’re a playoff team. We were there, and just thinking, Oh, this is an every-year thing, having a chance. And then you lose five times in the playoffs, right? And you lose in some ugly ways, and that sticks with you, the scars. Then you go into last year, and I feel like I’m going to have the best year of my career. And I do individually. And then I look up, and that doesn’t correlate to the team.

“And that makes you understand that, one, health isn’t always promised. Not only your health, the guys around you, aren’t always promised. And then two, you can’t control everything. You’ve got to manage it. And so, at this point, it’s having a team that, I’m thankful I have guys that feel the same way, that understand, and a bunch of them feel like what I’m saying. And it’s against the clock. It’s the urgency.”

Dak Prescott was wearing a Super Bowl XXX shirt as the Cowboys arrived at their training camp hotel.

Jan. 28, 1996: Cowboys 27, Steelers 17

Dallas’ last SB trip pic.twitter.com/KyuOPkWEQu
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 27, 2026

It’s more than just feeling it. Prescott can hear it, too. Every day, he says, Williams, the ex-Jet captain who’s never played in the postseason, tells him, “We’re going to win.” And Prescott knows if that happens in September and October, the pressure will only mount. “The hardest thing here,” he says, “is to handle success. The adversity is easy.”

So he sees no sense in running from attention now, if it’s coming regardless.

“At this point, I don’t care. I’ve been criticized. I’m going to get criticized,” he said. “I know it sucks when you’re watching other teams playing in the playoffs and it hurts 10 times more than anything anybody could ever say about me. So just having gone through the fire, I don’t care. I’m aware of what I want to do.”

And everyone in Dallas seems, this summer, to be on board with that.

“I love it. We want guys that have confidence,” Schottenheimer said. “I’m all about it.”

The truth is, as he said himself, Prescott always has. He’s just a little, or a lot, less guarded now, in letting everyone else know it. As a certain T-shirt would attest.

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