Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott sat down with former head coach and current NBC Sports analyst Jason Garrett before Sunday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles to talk about the past eight years leading America's Team.
Garrett and Prescott talked about when they first met at Valley Ranch and Dak's first days with the team, including a grilling interview with his new head coach.
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Dak talked about always being ready for an opportunity and being prepared to do your job, having found himself in the starting spot in high school, college and the pros when the man in front of him went down with an injury.
Garrett talked about Dak's first season, being comfortable as a leader and leading the team to a 13-3 record in his rookie year. Dak credited the vets around him with encouraging him to use his energy and passion to be the leader he wanted to be.
"There's nothing more special than the locker room," Dak said, speaking of building camaraderie among his teammates. "Positions, numbers, race, color, offense, defense, none of that matters. It's just about all of these men being on the same page for one common goal. The more you can protect that locker room and the more you can have fun in the locker room, be open in that lockerroom it only makes being on the football field better."
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Garrett and Prescott talked about the scrutiny and the high-profile nature of being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.
"At the end of the day, I'm blessed. I'm blessed for this opportunity, this platform. Just as Troy said, 'It's a nice steak dinner, but a lot of things come with it,'" Dak said. "Scrutiny is one and that's OK. I've always held myself to a high standard so nobody is as big a critic on my game as I am … but the best part is to be able to have such a reach, to be able to inspire others, to tell my story, to overcome adversity to really just give and serve not only the community, not only Dallas but the world because that's what this platform allows me to do."
Dak talked about how fortunate he is to be able to work with his Faith, Fight, Finish Foundation to raise money for cancer research, work with law enforcement in the communities they serve, and work on mental health and suicide prevention -- all things he said have affected his life personally and areas where he wanted to work in to make the world a better place.
When asked about the turning point of this season, the punch in the mouth from the 49ers in Week 5, Dak said the team was surprised and that they realized they didn't fight like they should have through the end of the game.
Since that time, the Cowboys have won 6 of 7 with the only loss being a 28-23 loss to the Eagles on Nov. 5.
Keeping their tempo, staying mobile on his feet and the team sticking together through adversity, Dak said, will see the team through the rest of the season.
Prescott believes he has the pen and is in control of his story. He said if he always believed what people said about him he wouldn't be doing what he's doing now.
"This is my story … I'm the one in control with the great support system I have and I'm going to keep writing," Dak said.
The Cowboys and Eagles take the field at 7:20 p.m. during Sunday Night Football on NBC 5. The winner takes a decisive advantage in the NFC East going into the final four weeks of the regular season.
