On Jan. 2, 2024, five days before the Dallas Cowboys’ regular-season finale, the franchise’s palatial, constellation-heavy headquarters are nearly empty. Only cubicle dwellers fill the cavernous space with sound, until Dak Prescott enters, strolling toward the locker room with his physical therapist, Luke Miller, in tow.
Both head to a small space attached to the trainer’s room, where Prescott reclines atop a blue exam table. The quarterback is lying flat on his back, a stack of towels resting on his stomach. Miller goes to work on his body, kneading over tattoos, scars and the expected welts, tight spots, and painful bruises accumulated over 17 weeks of an NFL season. Still, Prescott is giddy. The important stuff, a long time coming, is now here: six weeks as potentially transformative as any stretch in his full, celebrated, scrutinized, loss-heavy life.
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated
