Skip to main content
Join

Dak Prescott tears up in response to question about his legacy

Nikki Chavanelleby:Nikki Chavanelle•06/22/23•

NikkiChavanelle

Dak Prescott
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott got teary-eyed during his response to a question about his legacy while speaking at the SMU Athletic Forum in Dallas.

The 2022 Walter Payton Man of the Year told those in attendance that, above all, he hopes his legacy is that of a man that his mother would be proud of.

“I want to be right there with those two guys that won a Super Bowl for this organization,” Prescott said. “As a person, well, I want to be a hell of a player, say he’s a great player, one of the best, hall of fame-type player that when I’m done, they say he’s that type of player, but the person he was, was way better.

“And really… as much as I hope that I impact and inspire people… y’all got me this morning, a man my mom would be proud of, really.”

Prescott striving to make mom proud

Prescott lost his mother, Peggy, in 2013 due to colon cancer. She was a single mother raising three boys in a trailer park in Louisiana and their relationship was very close.

“We were best friends and still are,” Prescott said of his mother, via the Faith Fight Finish Foundation. “She was everything, my coach, my mom, my teacher and anything you could think of, it was deeper than just mom and son.”

Sticking to his mother’s faith, fight, finish mantra, Prescott continued to close out one of his best seasons at Mississippi State after she passed.

“I learned so many lessons from watching my mom fight colon cancer,” he shared. “And I think just toughness, mental toughness was one of the main things I’ve taken and I try to use every day and to never show weakness.  And just her courage and fight through that whole battle just showed me how mentally tough one person can be.” 

Prescott’s foundation focuses on raising money for cancer research and supporting those going through hardships. It also helps raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental health.

This season will be Prescott’s eighth in the NFL. The former fourth-round draft pick will be taking play calls from head coach Mike McCarthy for the first time in an effort to get the Cowboys over the second-round hump.