'Legacy or Bust'? Dak Prescott at Cowboys Camp: 'I'm a Fighter!'

Hoping to bring home a Super Bowl for the Cowboys, Dak Prescott has been named the NFC quarterback under the most pressure. But what does the Dallas QB say as he leads his team through training camp here in Oxnard?

OXNARD, Calif. - They are everywhere, the critics who attached themselves to the Dallas Cowboys like barnacles to a whale. Some are conmen, like Skip Bayless. Some are comedians, like Stephen A. Smith. 

Some are trying to do their job seriously, as is the case with CBS Sports, which has written it believes Dak Prescott is the quarterback in the NFC facing the most pressure. We assume the same of Courtney Cronin of ESPN, who we do not know ... but who seems to know that this is a "championship or bust season in order for Dak Prescott to get new contract extension.''

"We are a talking point," Prescott told us not long ago, explaining an "America's Team'' phenomenon. "As (national media people (look to) find something to talk about, that’s the first thing to go to."

And this week? “I’m embracing everything that’s coming my way – negativity, criticism, whatever it may be,'' he said, obviously aware of the criticism, from the constructive to the clownish. "I’m getting better.”

While Dak looks to improve ... the same-old/same-old analysis remains largely the same. Cronin's assertion? That is of course factually wrong. The Cowboys' plan is to extend Prescott well before they know whether the 2023 team wins a championship. "Well before'' as in, like, this month. That is the goal at the negotiating table, as doing so will free up money to do other deals.

Cronin talks of "the other teams out there'' who might want to trade for Prescott in the future ... and down the ridiculous rabbit hole we go, as she touts the new weapons Dak has been blessed with, mentioning "Luke Schoonmaker and Ronald Jones'' as major additions.

Schoonmaker is presently a non-entity at tight end due to injury and will start at fourth string. Jones was to fight for the No. 2 running back job and if he falls short will likely get cut - but is also suspended for the first two games of the year.

What about the CBS assertion that "Prescott's job isn't on the line, but his legacy is?'' That's a bold statement. But it's also "The Sound and The Fury'' stuff. In a wide-angle look: How many starting NFL quarterbacks are not "under pressure'' or involved in the rise or fall of their "legacy''?

And specific to Dak: Prescott just turned. He figures to play for another half-decade. Why is this the "legacy year''? Why is this the "pressure year''? What about 2024 and 2025 and whenever?

CBS Sports writes, "How many times are the Cowboys going to win double-digit games, advance to the playoffs, and not get past the divisional round? This occurrence has happened four times under Prescott, and twice in the last two seasons."

How many times will Dallas advance to the playoffs in hopes of a Super Bowl? Short answer: As many times as it takes.

Legacy on the line? Really? Now and only now? Only six active quarterbacks have won a Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes is atop that mountain. But would a franchise prefer any of the other four - Matthew Stafford, Russell Wilson, Nick Foles or Joe Flacco - over Dak?

Cowboys management is prepared to believe in Dak financially. The coaching staff believes, too, as it installed its "Dak-friendly'' "Texas Coast Offense.'' And Prescott's rare form of leadership is what frees the locker room to treat him as both their "leader'' and their "brother,'' a fact pushed to center stage by this week's misunderstanding of Trevon Diggs' trash-talking of his QB.

Said Diggs: "It's our relationship, my relationship with my brother, or how we operate. At the end of the day, it’s our team and Dak is the leader of our team. ... I love Dak to death.

The Cowboys' championship drought nearing is real. So are the pressures of Dak's job. And so are his successes, even as those 15 interceptions have created a recency bias. 

“I believe I have the highest expectations for myself .. (higher) than anyone does. That holds me to a high standard,'' Prescott said. “Obviously, me coming from a year last year, leading the league in interceptions and not performing the way I wanted … I’ve always been a fighter. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder.''

So ... "bust''? "Legacy''? These are premature and these are overreactions, all part of a segment-filling effort from everyone from true newspeople to charlatans to, yes, barnacles who've attached themselves to Dak Prescott and The Star ... ironically predicting failure for the very gargantuan body that keeps them afloat and alive.

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