Dak Prescott turns 29 on Friday, July 29.
The symmetry is not lost on him as he enters his seventh season as Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
He will take a moment and look back and reflect because it’s an opportunity to take stock in where he came from and reinforce where he wants to go.
“It’s a quick reflection,” Prescott said. “But it’s definitely moving forward. As they say, the rearview mirror is a whole lot smaller than the front windshield.
“I think it’s good to do that. I will be 29 on the 29th. It will be the golden birthday so I plan for this to be the golden year.”
Nothing would be more golden for Prescott than to lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl. He understands that’s how all franchise quarterbacks are measured, especially the great ones who came before in Dallas.
Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman are Hall of Famers and franchise legends because they won multiple Super Bowl titles with the Cowboys.
Prescott can’t stop thinking about what a Super Bowl would mean for him and the Cowboys.
“I mean obviously knowing the quarterbacks that played specifically for this team and knowing their legacy and the ones that we hold at the highest standard are the ones that have Super Bowl rings,” Prescott said. “It starts there for me, trying to fill the shoes of those guys that have come before me and do something for this organization that hasn’t been done in a long time.”
It’s been well-chronicled that the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl title since the 1995 season and since have only won four playoff games.
The Cowboys thought they had a chance to break through in 2021 when Prescott opened the season on an MVP tear before ending it with a heartbreaking home playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers when the clock ran out on him in the final seconds.
It’s a memory he can’t shake or get out of his mind. It has served as a source of motivation throughout the offseason.
“Yeah, it was tough but it was easy to get to work knowing that’s the only thing that I can do to fix anything moving forward,” Prescott said. “There are times you reflect back. I give [Cowboys mental conditioning coach] Chad Bohling credit, started out with a meeting and showed a video of the press conferences, my press conference and Zeke’s, just a video to make sure that we reflect and keep that on our mind. So that feeling is a nasty feeling.
“It’s one that when you think about, as I said, you want to go work, go do whatever you can to make sure you don’t feel that way again. That’s what we’re out here trying to do.”
Prescott has certainly done his part. He is leaner and trimmer than ever, making himself more elusive and quicker.
Tight end Dalton Schultz said there is more velocity on his passes.
It’s a testament to Prescott having a full offseason for the first time since 2019 and being able to work on his complete game. He spent 2020 in a contract holdout and 2021 was spent rehabbing a fractured ankle.
He has been able to refine his footwork and practice throwing from different arm angles.
“He’s a guy who’s trying to get better every day, and I’m not just coach-speaking here,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “That’s his approach. He’s very, very coachable. I would say his details are cleaner or tighter.
“I don’t know that there isn’t an area that he hasn’t grown. You look at his physical conditioning. He weighs the same. But he is more lean, he is more flexible. He has put a tremendous amount of work into that. You are seeing that pay off.”
The Super Bowl is the big payoff for Prescott and the Cowboys. McCarthy believes he is a quarterback who can not only lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl but also be the reason why they win it.
“This offense is built around making the quarterback successful and this is Dak Prescott’s offense,” McCarthy said. “I think you see him really taking ownership of that. But at the end of the day, defense wins championships but the Super Bowl is won by the quarterback. That is how I view the journey on how you prepare the team and what the team needs to look like. I think he is a guy who emulates exactly what you are looking for.”
A reflective Prescott is ready to celebrate his 29th birthday with a golden year.
He embraces McCarthy’s perspective and is properly motivated to erase the memory of how last season ended.
“I mean obviously the old saying defense wins championships is true and when he says quarterbacks win the Super Bowl, he means they’ve got to make big plays in big moments in games like that,” Prescott said. “Just the way that this game has evolved to such a spread game now in the NFL that you’ve got to make big-time throws, whether it be third down, fourth down to win games.
“That’s the biggest game and the biggest moments, they happen in that game. So 100% understand what he’s saying and yeah, just trying to do whatever I can to get to that moment really.”
