FRISCO - Dak Prescott is getting unfairly criticized for saying what every Dallas Cowboys fan should want to hear.
When asked to share his thoughts about the rival Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl LIX win, the quarterback said his team was "very close" to the newly crowned champions. The reaction in the national media as consistent, and callous.
ESPN's Marcus Spears put his head in his hands and said "I just don't know what to say about these guys anymore."
FS1's Colin Cowherd said the entire organization was in "denial."
Leave it to the king of fabricated outrage - Stephen A. Smith - to take the ripping over the top..
“Clearly delusional,” Smith said on ESPN this week. “This is Dak Prescott, when has he not been delusional? I mean, we’ve seen evidence of this time and time again from this guy.”
Curious as to what these talking heads think Prescott's answer should have been.
Something along the lines of "Yeah, the Eagles are amazing and next year we have zero chance of even being on the same football field with them." Imagine Jerry Jones hearing that. Imagine Prescott's teammates hearing that. Imagine fans hearing that.
This season, to be clear, the Cowboys were in no way "close" to Philly. They lost the two meetings 34-6 and 41-7. And the Eagles have won two Super Bowls since 2017 while the Cowboys haven't played in a conference championship game since 1995.
But Prescott is 33-8 against the NFC East since becoming the Cowboys' starting quarterback in 2016, including 9-4 vs. the Eagles. He should've thrown in "we've got a lot of work to do before we can catch them," but the idea that Dallas isn't "close" seems illogical.
The Cowboys won the division in 2023, and not team has repeated as champs in 20 years.
“He just needs to go some place and be quiet," Smith said of Prescott. "Dak Prescott has been in the league for 10 years and ain’t been to an NFC Championship Game. But he talking. You’d think you wouldn’t be so tone deaf, have the decency to recognize your position and say ‘I might need to shut the hell up.’”
"Be quiet'' as advice coming from Stephen A. seems hypocritical. But in this case? The ESPN loudmouth is just one guy in a chorus of misguided critics.
