Dallas Cowboys win, but pay a severe toll in the process

The win for the Dallas Cowboys was eclipsed by Dak Prescott’s gruesome injury.

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock since yesterday afternoon, you’d be happy to learn that the Dallas Cowboys won their game against the Giants. This being the Cowboys, though, it was a lot more difficult than it should’ve been. But to their credit, Dallas found enough big plays down the stretch to get kicker Greg Zuerlein in position to boot the game-winner as time expired.

Of course, the win elevated the Cowboys’ record to a seemingly paltry 2-3 mark. But in this malodorous division known as the NFC East, that record is good enough to claim the top spot. However, in the saga that unfolded on Sunday afternoon, the overwhelming talking point has to be the horrific injury suffered by quarterback Dak Prescott.

With a little over six-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter, Prescott sprinted up the middle on a designed quarterback draw. He broke toward the left sideline before getting dragged down by a Giant defender. In the process of being tackled, the defender landed awkwardly on Prescott’s right leg. The lower part of the limb gave way, and as Prescott surveyed the damage, he gestured to the sideline for help immediately.

It took a heartbreaking turn from there. As CBS came back from the commercial break, their camera crew caught Executive Vice President and Director of Player Personnel Stephen Jones embracing and consoling a female. I’m assuming it was his sister and Chief Brand Officer for the Cowboys, Charlotte Jones-Anderson.

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Once they finally got Prescott situated on the cart and wheeled him off the field, you could plainly see the emotion pouring out of him. Look, I’ve seen a boatload of bad injuries happen to football players over the years, and you absolutely never want to see that happen to anyone, regardless of the team. Yes, even the Eagles. But I’ve never been affected by a player’s raw emotion like I was hit in the chest with Prescott’s pained, tearful face. I couldn’t help it. I welled up. This dude takes a lot of criticism for some puzzling and nebulous reasons. I was a former proponent of not paying him at one time, but I came around on that and have been a strong advocate of his for a while now.

I think he is absolutely the kind of character guy you need leading a football team. Off the field, he says and does all the right things. On the field, I never get the impression that he’s doing anything but his level best to help his team win. His teammates respond to his competitiveness and react accordingly. There’s no way they get themselves back into any of these games this season without Prescott’s indomitable will. You cannot teach what he’s got.

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So as good as I feel about having Andy Dalton as the starter now, they’re going to have an enormously difficult time trying to fill in for Dak’s emotional leadership. The other thing that got put into sharp focus yesterday was that Prescott–as well as all of these players–are human beings subject to the same cruel twists of fate that can befall any of us. Their careers can be profoundly altered in the blink of an eye, and it can be through no fault of their own.

Published on 10/12/2020 at 12:40 PM
Last updated at 10/12/2020 at 12:40 PM

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