Cowboys Dak Prescott, Emmitt Smith Present at ACM Awards: 'Welcome to Our House'

Donning cowboys boots and hats, Dak Prescott and Emmitt Smith presented the first award of Thursday's 58th Academy of Country Music Awards.

FRISCO - A nearly unrecognizable Dallas Cowboys headquarters transformed into one of the biggest stages in music, and two stars of 'America's Team' kicked off the star-studded evening.

Donning cowboys boots and hats, Dak Prescott and Emmitt Smith presented the first award of Thursday's 58th Academy of Country Music Awards at the 12,000-seat Ford Center.

"Welcome to our house," Prescott said as the crowd erupted into cheers in anticipation of country music's biggest and brightest acts. "To win in football, it takes the whole team and for country music, the same holds true. It all starts with a great song."

Chimed Smith, "All kinds of songs have won this award, including songs about cowboys." Quipped Prescott, "And to quote Texas' own George Straight, 'How 'bout them cowgirls too?'"

Instead of handing off 🏈, @dak and @EmmittSmith22 are here to hand out the first 🏆 of the night for Song of the Year! #ACMawards pic.twitter.com/2rIMYJhyGT

— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) May 12, 2023

Smith and Prescott awarded Song of the Year to Cole Swindell for "She Had Me At Heads Carolina."

Swindell and JoDee Messina took the stage together to perform their remix of the award-winning song. The biggest country stars in the world clapped along as they belted out the words, "Heads Carolina, tails California. Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer!"

The Academy of Country Music Awards was a rocking success. The two-hour show was literally non-stop action, with zero commercials.

On Friday morning, Cowboys rookies got back to football at minicamp. The black carpet has been rolled up. Country music legends and emerging talent have packed up their boots, including a special few entertainers with new trophies in tow, as they depart the lone star state. 

More than eight months in the making, it was the first time the Cowboys' state-of-the-art headquarters has hosted a major awards show. It's a victory for owner Jerry Jones' vision and his $5.1 billion investment in the 91-acre headquarters. Opened in 2016, Jones harbors hopes of some day bringing the NFL Draft and possibly the scouting combine to The Star.

Established in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards is the longest-running country music awards show and made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, in partnership with Prime Video. The full rebroadcast is streaming for free on Amazon Freevee.

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