Dallas Cowboys fans need to be appreciative of Dak Prescott

Some Dallas Cowboys’ fans would love to see Dak Prescott  walk next year, and those fans are ungrateful.

Even though the Dallas Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl in over two decades, their rabid fan base, for some reason, expects their favorite team to win the Super Bowl every year. This is the same fan base that hasn’t seen the Cowboys sniff an appearance in an NFC Championship game since January of 1995, mind you.

If you think Cowboys Nation has high expectations for the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl every year, then the expectations for the Cowboys’ quarterback are even more extreme. Every Cowboys quarterback has had to live up to unrealistic expectations that come with being the quarterback of America’s Team. Don Meredith, Craig Morton, Roger Staubach. Danny White, Troy Aikman, Quincy Carter, Tony Romo, and now Dak Prescott.

The only reason I mentioned Carter is because he was entrenched as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, and the Cowboys were legitimately trying to make Carter a franchise signal caller. Besides, he did take the Cowboys to the playoffs in 2003-just like the aforementioned quarterbacks listed above.

While all of those Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks faced scrutiny, none of them faced the firecracker criticism that Dak has endured on a yearly basis. Nah, better yet, Dak’s criticism is on a nuclear level when it comes to Cowboys’ fans.

Including the playoffs, all Dak has done is win a total of 41 games, pass for 15,778 yards, 97 touchdowns, against 36 interceptions, complete 65.8 percent of his passes, rally eight comeback wins, engineer 14-game winning drives, pass for 229.2 yards a game, won one playoff game, and brought his team back in two closely contested playoff losses.

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Further, Dak has won the second most games since he came into the league in 2016 behind the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) Tom Brady. Dak is tied with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson with 41 wins since 2016. That’s great company to be associated with, and the only thing Dak doesn’t have that those future Hall of Famers have is a  Super Bowl ring, but that’s not Dak’s fault.

If you have to blame someone, blame a mediocre coaching staff for not knowing how to use Dak’s strengths to its fullest capabilities that would put Dallas in position to win a Super Bowl, and a front office that didn’t take advantage of Dak’s cheap, rookie contract.

However, Dallas’ fan base critique absolutely everything Dak does on a football field. Raise your hand if your heard these quotes from Dallas’ fans: “Dak put up huge numbers in garbage time!” “Dak had a losing record against winning teams!” “Dak needs weapons around him to be successful!” “Dak is a choker!” “Dak is inaccurate!” “Dak overthrew and under threw his receivers!” “Without Zeke, Dak isn’t good!” “Dak can’t throw the deep ball!” Dak has all of that talent and couldn’t beat the Eagles, but Carson Wentz won with less talented players!” “Dak needs to win a Super Bowl before Jerry Jones gives him a huge contract!”

Those are the most common critiques about Dak from Dallas’ fans, I’d share more but I don’t have time to write the most ridiculous ones I hear. But I don’t understand a fan base that consistently moves the goal post in order for Dak to meet a certain standard.

At first, the fans complained that Dak needed Ezekiel Elliott to win games, but when he proved that he could win without Zeke, the goal post moved again. Then it was Dak is inaccurate and couldn’t throw deep passes, but Dak improved his accuracy and deep passing, and the goal post moved again.

Oh, and they said Dak can’t read defenses but somehow he has won 41 games and two NFC East titles in the process, but Dallas fans want Dak to prove himself again after four years before he signs a lucrative contract. A majority of Dallas fans sided with Jerry and Stephen Jones in that they believed Dak should have signed the five-year, $110 million guaranteed contract.

All Dak wanted was a four-year contract with the same amount money. Another reason Dak wanted a four-year contract was because he saw Jared Goff receive one last season, and Dak has completely outplayed Goff in every statistical category.

Let’s be mindful, Goff was drafted in the same class as Dak as the number one pick overall pick.

But to get a true understanding of Dallas’ fans being unappreciative of Dak, some of them want to see Dak walk because….get this…they truly believe Dallas can either draft or trade for another good quarterback. That is by far the most asinine thing any fan base can believe.

Do these fans not remember what it was like after Aikman retired and Dallas was in quarterback purgatory? Do they remember quarterbacks like Ryan Leaf, Drew Henson, Chad Hutchinson, Anthony Wright, Randall Cunningham, and Clint Stoerner.

That’s exactly the types of quarterbacks Dallas will have at its disposal if the Joneses’ can’t reach an agreement with Dak next season. And best believe Dak is going to play at an elite level-meaning Dak will command more than the $110 million in guaranteed dollars.

Most people will say that Dak is scrutinized because he wears the “star” on his helmet. I agree with it to a certain extent but it still doesn’t explain how or why he’s under appreciated when Dak has set several franchise records in four seasons – records that some Hall of Famers don’t even have on their resume.

I thought Romo had it really bad until Dak became the starting quarterback. And speaking of Romo, I truly believe that some Dallas fans are still upset that Dak took over for Romo. I believe some don’t like him because they simply don’t understand football. Yes, I believe some don’t like Dak because of the color of his skin. And to be fair, there are several Black Cowboys fans that strongly dislike Dak as well, but if you believe there isn’t a small percentage of fans that don’t like Dak because of the color of his skin, then you’re naïve.

This is America and racism exists. But I’m not here to dwell on racism or discuss it at length, nor do I think most Cowboys feel this way. I’m just here to tell you that Cowboys fans simply don’t appreciate Dak Prescott like they should, and they will truly miss him if he ever walks away.

• Published on 07/31/2020 at 11:01 AM
• Last updated at 07/30/2020 at 10:29 AM