‘The World Needs’ Cowboys at Bucs, Says Dak

"I wouldn't want it any other way,” says Dak of the NFL opener.

FRISCO - OK, so maybe we're all a bit football-obsessed and Dak Prescott is, like us, a bit NFL-centric in the way we think of things.

But, we get it.

"I think,'' the Dallas Cowboys QB says of Thursday's league opener at Tampa Bay, "this is what the NFL and the world needs."

"Healing,'' is what Prescott is talking about - and no, not as it regards his ankle and his shoulder, both ailments well behind him. As he notes, "I'm definitely ready. I'm excited. I put in a lot of work to get to this point. "Whether it was months ago, rehabbing the ankle (from the 2020 season-ending surgery), to the last few months keeping the feet working while I was letting my arm rest (due to shoulder soreness that popped up a month ago). 

"There is so much work I put into this I'm just excited to go out there and be a part of the full game."

That is, rather incredibly, the "micro'' of what is about to happen, as large as it is. It's been an 11-month grind for the Pro Bowl QB, from the ankle issue to the contract negotiations that finally concluded with his $40 million APY deal to the shoulder problem that started at camp.

Yes, everything about Dak Prescott is a headline now.

But his point about the "macro'' is well-taken. The league lives in a COVID world, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has proudly suggested that not only the NFL, but also his team, might just be the right force of nature to lead us in the right direction.

Or, at least, to take our minds off problems for three hours on a Thursday night.

And Dak nails that aspect of this much-anticipated NFL Kickoff Game at Raymond James Stadium. Jerry Jones. "Hard Knocks.'' The headliner Dak. The even greater headliner, Tom Brady. The defending Super Bowl champion Bucs.

That's quite a collection of stuff crowded onto the big stage.

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"I wouldn't want it any other way, to be honest," Prescott say. "I love night games. I love playing on primetime. ... Them coming off of the Super Bowl title and us. Having fans back to full capacity (in stadiums). I think this is what the NFL and the world needs."

The world needs it. The NFL needs it. The Cowboys need it. And yes, all things from the last 11 months considered? Dak Prescott might need it most of all.

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