Rayne Dakota "Dak" Prescott^[1] (born July 29, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and was selected by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

Intended to serve as a backup in his rookie season, Prescott became the Cowboys' starting quarterback after starter Tony Romo was injured in the preseason, and earned recognition during the year for his on-field success, which included helping the team clinch the top seed in their conference. Prescott set several rookie quarterback records and was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and also earned a Pro Bowl selection.

Prescott was the youngest of Peggy Prescott's three children. While she worked as a manager of a truck stop, Prescott attended Haughton High School in Haughton, Louisiana, where he played football for the Buccaneers.^[2] As a senior, he completed 159-of-258 passes for 2,860 yards and 39 touchdowns. He also rushed for 951 yards on 90 attempts with 17 touchdowns, and led Haughton to become 2010 District 1-AAAA Champions.^[3] Peggy had colon cancer and died on November 3, 2013.^[3]

Prescott was redshirted as a true freshman with Mississippi State in 2011. As a backup to Tyler Russell in 2012, he played in 12 games, completing 18 of 29 passes for 194 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also scored four rushing touchdowns, with 110 yards on 32 carries.^[4]

Prescott began as the backup to Russell again in the 2013 season, but took over as the starter when Russell suffered a concussion. He played in 11 games, completing 156 of 267 passes for 1,940 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for 829 yards on 134 carries with 13 touchdowns.^[5] He was the MVP of the 2013 Liberty Bowl after leading the Bulldogs to a 44–7 win over the Rice Owls.^[6] His 2013 season performance ranks seventh in passing yards (1,940), tied for fifth in rushing touchdowns (13), and fourth in total yards (2,769) and total touchdowns (23). Following the season, he was named to the 2013 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.^[7]

In his first season as a full-time starter in 2014, Prescott led the Bulldogs to a 10–2 regular season record, its first #1 ranking in program history, and led them to the Orange Bowl.^[8] During the 2014 season, Prescott broke 10 school records including: single season passing yards (3,449), total yards of total offense (4,435), passing touchdowns (27), and total touchdowns (41).^[9] Additionally his 14 rushing touchdowns is tied for fourth in school history. Prescott also garnered several accolades throughout and following the season. He was named the Manning Award Player of the Week five times (vs. UAB, at LSU, vs. Texas A&M, vs. Auburn; vs. Vanderbilt), the 2014 SEC Offensive Player of the Week three times (at LSU; vs. Auburn; vs. Vanderbilt), the Athlon Sports, Davey O'Brien, Maxwell Award Player of the Week two times each (at LSU, vs. A&M), and was the 24/7 Sports National Offensive Player of Week (at LSU). He was named a 2014 Honorable Mention All-American by SI.com, was named to the 2014 First-Team All-SEC team by the AP, Coaches, and ESPN.com and was on the 2014 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. He won the Conerly Trophy, was a finalist for the Maxwell Award, the Davey O'Brien Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award, and the Manning Award. He also finished eighth in the 2014 Heisman Trophy voting and received two first place votes.^[7][10]

Prior to the 2015 season, he was named a 2015 National Player of the Year Candidate, was selected to two Preseason All-American teams (Athlon Sports and Phil Steele) and was chosen First Team Preseason All-SEC by the media.^[11] During the 2015 season he became the fourth player in FBS history to pass for 60 touchdowns and rush for 40 touchdowns in a career, joining Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan, Tim Tebow of Florida, and Colin Kaepernick of Nevada.^[12] His 2,411 rushing yards places him third in all-time rushing yards by a quarterback in SEC history behind Tebow and Matt Jones of Arkansas.^[13] He ranks 4th in SEC history with 107 total touchdowns responsible for (passing, rushing, and receiving)^[14] and fifth in total yards (rushing and passing) with 11,153.^[15] His streak of 288 consecutive pass attempts without throwing an interception is the longest in school history and the third longest SEC history.^[16] In the Bulldogs' 2015 game against the Arkansas he set the school single game record and tied the SEC single game record for touchdowns responsible for with seven (five passing two rushing) and set a new school record for touchdown passes in a single game.^[13] He was named the AutoNation National Offensive Player of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America, the Davey O'Brien Award National Quarterback of the Week, a Manning Award Star of the Week by the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the SEC offensive player of the week following his performance in the Bulldogs' victory over Kentucky; a game in which he passed for 348 yards and three touchdowns to go along with 117 yards and three rushing touchdowns. The six touchdowns in a single contest tied the school record set by Jackie Parker in 1952 and Prescott became the first player in school history to throw for over 300 yards and rush for over 100 yards in the same game. This was the fourth time that he has been named SEC Offensive Player of the Week, the most in program history.^[17][18] Prescott received further national recognition by being placed on several national award watch lists including being named a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, a semifinalist for both the Maxwell Award and the Davey O'Brien Award, placed on the watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Manning Award,the Wuerffel Trophy, and the Senior Bowl, and won the Senior CLASS Award as well as being awarded the 2017 NCAA Today's Top 10 Award.^{[19][20][21][22]} For the season he passed for 3,793 yards, 29 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns.^[23]

For his career, Prescott finished third in SEC history in total yards,^[24] and fourth in total touchdowns.^[25] He holds 38 school records.^[12][26]

^{[40] [41]}

The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2016 NFL Draft with a plan to acquire a young quarterback to develop behind Tony Romo. After failing to trade up to select Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook,^[44] they selected Prescott in the fourth round (135th overall).^[45] He was signed to a 4-year deal. When Prescott joined the Dallas Cowboys for their rookie mini camp, he was issued #10 since veteran wide receiver Devin Street occupied his college number 15. During the first week of rookie mini camp, he decided to switch to #4 in honor of his mother, whose birthday is on September 4.^[46] He is the first Dallas Cowboys quarterback in history to wear #4.^[47]

The rookie moved up on the depth chart when backup quarterback Kellen Moore broke his right tibia during the first week of training camp and after the Cowboys could not reach an agreement with the Cleveland Browns to trade for backup Josh McCown.^[48]

After Moore's injury, Prescott competed with second-year quarterback Jameill Showers for the backup job to established starter Tony Romo. Several reports from August training camp indicated that Showers outperformed Prescott, showing greater accuracy and a quicker release.^[49] However, the Cowboys coaching staff made the decision to start Prescott in the team's preseason opener at the Los Angeles Rams. Working with the Cowboys' first-team offense, Prescott completed 10 of 12 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns in one half of action, though Dallas would lose the game 28–24.^[50] Prescott continued his hot streak throughout the rest of the preseason, impressing all with his veteran-like pocket poise and decision making.^[51]

After starting quarterback Tony Romo suffered a vertebral compression fracture during the first quarter of the Cowboys' Week 3 preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, and in light of Romo's projected 8–10 week recovery time,^[52] Prescott was named the Cowboys starter for the beginning of the 2016 season.^[53]

Prescott's first regular-season start came on September 11 at home against the New York Giants, becoming the fourth rookie quarterback to open the season as a starter in franchise history, and the first rookie to start at quarterback for the Cowboys since Quincy Carter in 2001.^[54] He totaled 227 passing yards, as the Cowboys lost, 20–19.^[55] During Week 2 against the Washington Redskins, Prescott had 292 passing yards and a rushing touchdown as the Cowboys won, 27–23.^[56] Prescott threw his first NFL touchdown, a 17-yarder to wide receiver Dez Bryant, during the Cowboys' Week 3 matchup against the Chicago Bears.^[57] In total, he threw for 248 yards, the one touchdown, and also had a rushing score. The Cowboys won 31–17.^[58] In Week 4 at the San Francisco 49ers, Prescott passed for two touchdowns and 245 yards as the Cowboys won, 24–17.^[59] Against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5, Prescott threw for 227 yards and a touchdown while rushing for a touchdown in a 28–14 Cowboys victory.^[60] During Week 6 against the Green Bay Packers, Prescott had three touchdowns and 247 passing yards as the Cowboys won 30–16. The game marked the end of Prescott's interception-free streak.^[61] After a bye week, the Cowboys faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8, and fellow rookie quarterback Carson Wentz for their first career matchup. The Cowboys prevailed in overtime 29–23, with Prescott totaling three touchdowns (two passing and one rushing) on 287 passing yards.^[60]

Week 9 saw the Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns 35–10, with Prescott providing 247 passing yards and three touchdowns.^[62] In Week 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cowboys won 35–30, with Prescott passing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. One of the touchdowns was a then-career high 83-yarder to Ezekiel Elliott.^[63][64] The Cowboys continued their win streak in Week 11 by beating the Baltimore Ravens 27–17 with Prescott throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns.^[65] Week 12's annual Thanksgiving game provided a 31–26 win over the Washington Redskins in their second divisional matchup. Prescott had two touchdowns (one rushing and one passing) and 195 passing yards.^[60] His outstanding performance in November earned him Offensive Rookie of the Month.^[66]

During Week 13 against the Minnesota Vikings, the Cowboys won 17–15, with Prescott passing for 139 yards and one touchdown.^[67] In Week 14, the Cowboys were dealt their second loss on the season, by a score of 7–10, from division rival New York Giants, with Prescott passing for 169 yards and one touchdown in the contest.^[68] In Week 15, the Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26–20, with Prescott providing 279 passing yards and one rushing touchdown.^[69] Against the Detroit Lions in Week 16, the Cowboys won 42–21. Prescott passed for 212 yards and three touchdowns.^[70] In the Week 17 regular season finale, with the top playoff seed in the NFC clinched, the Cowboys decided to rest several starters. They lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 27–13, with Prescott only attempting eight passes for a total of 37 yards before being benched.^[71] As a rookie, Prescott started all 16 games with 3,667 passing yards, 282 rushing yards, 29 total touchdowns, and only four interceptions, and his 67.8% completion percentage ranked No. 4 among NFL quarterbacks in 2016.^[72]

With the Cowboys finishing the season with a 13–3 record, the team clinched the NFC East title. In the Divisional Round, the Cowboys faced the Green Bay Packers. Prescott completed 24 of 38 for 302 yards, with a quarterback rating of 103.2, and three touchdowns and an interception. Despite his strong performance, the Cowboys lost 34–31, ending their season. After a spectacular rookie season, Prescott was selected to the Pro Bowl and named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, receiving 28 of 50 votes, beating out running back and teammate Ezekiel Elliott by 7 votes.^[73] He was also ranked 14th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.^[74]

Prescott started his second professional season with 268 passing yards and a touchdown in the 19–3 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.^[75] He followed that up with his first setback of the season with a 42–17 loss to the Denver Broncos, where he was 30-of-50 for 238 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.^[76] In the next game against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football, he bounced back with 183 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and his first rushing touchdown of the season in the primetime 28–17 win.^[77] In Week 4, against the Los Angeles Rams, he was 20-of-36 for 252 yards, three passing touchdowns, and one interception in the 35–30 defeat.^[78] In the next game against the Green Bay Packers, he posted similar results, going 25-of-36 for 251 passing yards, three touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and one interception in the 35–31 loss.^[79] The Cowboys snapped their small losing streak in the next game against the San Francisco 49ers, posting a 40–10 victory. In the game, Prescott had his third consecutive game with three touchdown passes.^[80] Prescott and the Cowboys followed up the big win over San Francisco with two victories over the Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs to put the team at a 5–3 record.^[81][82] Going into the next game against the Atlanta Falcons, the Cowboys learned that they would be without running back Ezekiel Elliott for a six-game suspension, putting more pressure on Prescott for the success of the offense.^[83] In the game against the Falcons, Prescott was 20-of-30 for 176 yards and had a rushing touchdown, but was sacked 8 times as the Cowboys fell 27–7.^[84] In the next game against the Philadelphia Eagles, he went 18-of-31 for 145 yards and three interceptions in the 37–9 loss.^[85] The Cowboys' struggles on offense continued in the next game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys fell 28–6 as Prescott tallied 179 passing yards and two interceptions.^[86] Despite the setbacks, the Cowboys remained alive in playoff contention and responded with a 38–14 win over the Washington Redskins, where Prescott threw for two touchdowns.^[87] In the next game against the New York Giants, he was 20-of-30 for a season-high 332 yards and three passing touchdowns, including an 81-yarder to Rod Smith, in the 30–10 victory.^[88][89] Prescott had a rushing touchdown in the next game as the Cowboys prevailed 20–17 over the Oakland Raiders.^[90] In a pivotal Week 16 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks on Christmas Eve, he recorded 181 passing yards but had two interceptions in the costly 21–12 loss, which eliminated the Cowboys from postseason contention. However, even if the Cowboys won out, they would still miss the playoffs due to the Atlanta Falcons finishing 10-6.^[91] Prescott finished the season with 179 passing yards and a touchdown in the 6–0 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17.^[92] Overall, Prescott finished his second professional season with 3,324 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 357 rushing yards, and six rushing touchdowns.^[93]

Prescott started his third professional season passing for 170 yards in a 16–8 loss to the Carolina Panthers.^[94] In the next game, he helped lead the Cowboys to their first win of the 2018 season with 160 passing yards and a touchdown against the New York Giants.^[95] After a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3, Prescott passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns in a 26–24 victory over the Detroit Lions.^[96][97] In Week 5, against the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football, he passed for 208 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in the 19–16 overtime loss.^[98] In Week 6, a 40–7 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had 183 passing yards and two passing touchdowns to go along with 11 carries for 82 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.^[99] After losses to the Washington Redskins and Tennessee Titans, he helped lead the Cowboys to a 27–20 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles with 270 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and one rushing touchdown.^{[100][101][102]} In that stretch, the Cowboys acquired Amari Cooper from the Oakland Raiders as a new receiving target for Prescott.^[103] After leading a game-winning drive over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11, he helped lead the Cowboys to a 31–23 victory over the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving.^[104] In the victory, he had 289 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and his third consecutive game with a rushing touchdown. One of his passing touchdowns was a career-high 90-yard touchdown pass to Cooper.^[105][106] In Week 13, Prescott passed for 248 yards and one passing touchdown and rushed for 22 yards as the Cowboys defeated the 10–1 New Orleans Saints by a score of 13–10.^[107] In Week 14 against the Eagles, Prescott was held to 222 with two interceptions through three quarters, but exploded for 270 yards and three touchdowns to Cooper in the fourth quarter and overtime, ending with a career-high 455 yards, a 104.9 passer rating, and a franchise-record 42 completions in the 29–23 victory.^{[108][109][110]} The 42 completions were the most for any quarterback in a single game in the 2018 regular season.^[111] After a Week 15 shutout loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Prescott rebounded with 161 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and one rushing touchdown in Week 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after the win, the Dallas Cowboys won the NFC East for the second time in three years. In the regular season finale against the New York Giants, Prescott threw for 387 passing yards, and four passing touchdowns in the 36-35 win, making the Cowboys finish 2018 with a 10-6 record.^[112][113] The Cowboys were going to be the #4-seed. They faced off against the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card Round. Which at the time, Prescott was 0-2 against them. He passed for 226 yards, one touchdown, and one interception and had a crucial rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter of the 24–22 victory to earn his first playoff victory.^[114] In the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams, he passed for 266 yards and a touchdown and ran in a touchdown as the Cowboys fell 30–22.^[115] Prescott earned his second Pro Bowl selection as an alternate, replacing Drew Brees,^[116] where he threw a touchdown pass to Austin Hooper for the NFC side's only points of the game as the team lost to the AFC side 7-26.^[117]

In Week 1 against the New York Giants, Prescott threw 25 times for 405 yards and four touchdowns in the 35-17 win. Prescott's performance in the game gave him a perfect passer rating, the first Dallas quarterback to achieve since Craig Morton on October 5, 1969.^[118] Prescott was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 1.^[119] In Week 2 against the Washington Redskins, Prescott threw for 269 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception as the Cowboys won 31-21. ^[120] During Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins, Prescott finished with 246 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. He also had an 8 yard rushing touchdown in the 31-6 win. ^[121]

In Week 6 of the 2016 season, Prescott, with 176 attempts, broke the record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception to start a career; a record previously held by Tom Brady at 162 attempts in 2000–2001. This is also the record for consecutive attempts without an interception by a rookie, having broken the record set by Carson Wentz at 134 earlier in 2016. Wentz and Prescott had been exchanging the rookie record after having broken the Chad Hutchinson record of 95 set in 2002.^{[125][126][127]}

Prescott finished his 2016 rookie regular season with a record 11 games with an over 100 NFL passer rating, breaking the rookie record of 9 games set by Russell Wilson in 2012. He tied the Ben Roethlisberger 2004 rookie record of winning 13 games as a starter.^{[128][129][130]} His NFL passer rating of 104.9 broke Robert Griffin III's rookie record of 102.4 set in 2012. His 0.87% interception to attempts (459–4) broke the rookie record of 1.27% (393–5) set by Robert Griffin III.^[131][132] He threw 23 TDs and 4 INTs for a TD to INT ratio of 5.75 breaking the previous rookie record of 4.00 (20 TDs and 5 INTs) set by Robert Griffin III, and for a TD to INT differential of 19 breaking Russell Wilson's rookie record of 16 (26 TDs and 10 INTs).^[133][134] His 67.76% pass completion percentage broke the rookie record of 66.44% set by Ben Roethlisberger.^[135] In a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 18, 2016, Prescott, with an 88.9% completion percentage, broke the rookie single game record of 87.0% set by Mike Glennon in 2013.^[136][137]

As of 2018, Prescott held at least 12 Cowboys franchise records, including:

He is the son of Nathaniel and Peggy Prescott and has two older brothers, Tad and Jace, an older sister, Natalie Prescott-Smith, and an older half-brother, Elliott Prescott, from his father's previous marriage. Jace was an offensive lineman at Northwestern State. His mother died of colon cancer in November 2013.^{[7][143][144]} The Faith Fight Finish Foundation by Dak Prescott has been established in her honor, which helps people deal with adversity.^[145] His father is African American and his late mother was European American.^[146] Prescott currently resides in Frisco, Texas^[147]