Dak Prescott Knows He Needs a Super Bowl, or Else He'll Be the Next Tony Romo
Dak Prescott knows the score better than most.
Yes, he's the quarterback of the NFL's most polarizing team.
Yes, he's the face of a franchise that's about to begin its 30th season since its last championship.
Yes, he's paid a league-best $60 million per season to fix that, and yes, he hasn't come close as of yet.
That's all standard information. Everyone who follows the Dallas Cowboys, whether they love them or hate them, is aware of that. So it isn't exactly surprising that, when asked about his legacy in football last week, Prescott stayed singularly focused on the goal of winning the Cowboys a sixth Super Bowl title.
"I want to win a championship," he said. "Be damned if it's just for my legacy, or if it's for this team, for my personal being, for my sanity. Yeah, the legacy will take care of itself. I have to stay where my feet are."
It's an understandable answer, but what sets Prescott apart is that he's lived this story from both angles. It's easy to forget as he prepares for his 10th season as their starting quarterback, but Prescott was a Dallas Cowboys fan long before they ever drafted him.
Growing up in Haughton, Louisiana, Prescott was a mere three-hour drive from Dallas-Fort Worth for most of his life. He grew up a Cowboys fan. He was a 19-year-old Cowboys fan in 2012, when Tony Romo threw three interceptions in a must-have, win-and-in regular season finale against Washington. The regrettable night prompted Prescott to publicly denounce Romo in a tweet that has aged into one of the most ironic twists of fate possible.
Prescott knows what the goal needs to be, because he has a unique perspective on the angst that swirls around this franchise.
In one sense, the Cowboys remain the most relevant franchise in the NFL because of their popularity. In the other, more meaningful sense – the kind that gets hung in stadium rafters – the Cowboys haven't been truly relevant in several generations.
[Related: Cowboys' Dak Prescott: 'Legacy be damned; I want to win a championship']
Prescott is now painfully aware of that on his own behalf, just as he was for Romo. Just as everyone associated with the organization is consistently reminded that the dust has been collecting on those five Lombardi Trophies for quite some time.
That's the burden of playing for a legacy franchise. Romo's career, by most standards, was an unmitigated success. He rose from being an undrafted free agent to start 133 games for the Cowboys, making $127 million in career earnings. He holds the franchise records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. He was named to four Pro Bowls and earned one second-team All-Pro nod. But his 2-4 playoff record and failure to appear in a Super Bowl, much less win one, take precedence for a team that watched Roger Staubach win two and Troy Aikman another three.
Does that sound at all familiar? It's eerie how much Prescott's career has started to mirror Romo's, from the humble beginnings to the two playoff wins and the lone second-team All-Pro selection. The comparison should get even wilder soon, as Prescott only needs 2,747 passing yards and 36 passing touchdowns to pass Romo and sit atop the Cowboys' all-time passing records. Those are accomplishments he could manage as soon as this fall, or at least by 2026.
Will any of that satisfy the critics if it happens without a Super Bowl championship? Of course not. Not only is that the standard in Dallas, but it's the demand placed on a franchise that is despised by anyone who isn't a fan.
Maybe that's not fair for a guy with a legitimately inspiring story, growing from a fourth-round draft pick into a franchise cornerstone and an All-Pro player. To quote Don Draper, that's what the money's for.
It won't always be so ruthless. People have warmed to Romo's legacy over time, and most acknowledge now that he was a far better player than he often got credit for when he was trying to shoulder the hopes and dreams of America's Team. But people are also kinder to Romo now because it's no longer his responsibility to deliver Dallas back to the mountaintop. Teenagers who go on to become NFL stars are no longer living and dying with Romo's game day decisions.
That falls on Prescott for the foreseeable future. And he's right. The best way to secure his legacy, or to silence the debate about it, would be to win the championship that's eluded the Cowboys for so long.
David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team's official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing "Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion" about the quarterback's time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_ .
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