There are a lot of expectations that come with putting on America’s team’s jersey. After all, it’s natural for people to pay extra attention to the Cowboys. But it’s not just the people pressuring the Dallas Cowboys. It might be the franchise that’s asking too much of their players. Dak Prescott and Tony Romo might be able to answer that question more aptly.

Per Dave Helman, the Cowboys think of Dak Prescott as a panacea. They think of him as a guy who will come in and take their woes away. But how far can Prescott keep up with these responsibilities? At this point, the star on his jersey weighs the same as an actual one and Prescott has to carry all the weight of it. It’s gotten to a point where the name “Prescott” has become synonymous with the Cowboys offense. Helman elaborated more on this problem.

“The identity of the Dallas offense as far as I’m concerned right now is like, ‘get it done Dak,’ which is ironic because it’s so funny like people there are still people who don’t think Dak is capable of doing this. But for two at least two years now especially in 2022,” said Helman in a conversation on Kevin Gray Sports.

Prescott’s importance to the Cowboys is often swept under the rug. We’ll get a better idea of this when we look at the years when Prescott was injured. Prescott headed to the AT&T Stadium only to find that it would be the worst game of his NFL career. He fractured/dislocated his ankle in week 5 against the Giants in 2020. The Dallas Cowboys went 6-10 that season. Still not convinced that Prescott is a gem for the Cowboys?

We’ve got the DeLorean ready to take you back to September 2011, when Prescott fractured his right thumb (his throwing hand). He played 12 games and still got the Cowboys standing second in the NFC East that season. That was the year that CeeDee Lamb was enrolled in the offense and he still managed to scrape 1,359 yards with Prescott missing 5 games. Point being, Dallas would struggle without Dak Prescott.

In a recent presser, Jerry Jones praised the backup quarterback Trey Lance and everyone was positive that he’ll get picked up for the fifth year. But he didn’t because there’s no real successor to Dak. The Cowboys are still heavily invested in Dak Prescott. They didn’t draft a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. Both these facts mean that Prescott is invaluable to America’s team. Even after substantial injuries, Prescott was at his best in the 2023 season, leading the league with 36 passing touchdowns and was also the MVP runner up. What more do the Cowboys want? Apparently, a lot.

Trying to justify his stance, Helman pointed out, “You’re just asking a veteran top tier quarterback to make it work and like ‘this thing is going to go as far as you can get it. You’ve got to find the right matchup to exploit. You’ve got to find the guy that’s winning, more often than not, that’s probably going to be CeeDee Lamb. You’ve got to elevate these young guys, especially this year with a rookie left tackle probably and whoever plays center’. It will be a guy that hasn’t done it a whole lot.”

But that’s only just the tip of the iceberg. Good thing that the Cowboys have a veteran guard in Zack Martin, who will help him with play calling this year too. “Pressure is a privilege,” said Prescott a couple of month ago, channelling his inner Billie Jean King. It’s a proven record that Dak Prescott doesn’t have a losing season when he’s healthy. Perhaps the “pressure” of delivering and being a QB for America’s team is what keeps him going.

Again, pressure is a part of repping the star on your jersey. Dallas Cowboys are the biggest sports franchise in the world and all things good and bad come with it. Tony Romo knows all about it.

Did the Dallas Cowboys ask too much of Dak Prescott and Tony Romo?

Romo was great on the field and he’s great on TV. He’s the time lord who knows what plays are going to happen next. Where does he get it from? Of course, from his 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Decades have gone by and the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1996. Quarterbacks have come and gone, but the pressure of bearing a star stays the same.

There are some things about Dak Prescott that make him superior to Tony Romo. Prescott’s playoff record, for instance. But, in Dak’s pursuit to take his team to new heights, he has solidified himself as an elite in the league. He did the same to CeeDee Lamb and made him an elite receiver. It’s something that’s been in the making since 2020, Lamb’s rookie year. Lamb set the Cowboys on fire last year by breaking the record of most receptions in the season.

These are some of the facts that make Dave Helman think that Prescott is the right choice for the Dallas Cowboys. “So really like for two years it’s been Dak and CeeDee and patching this thing together however we can. And they’ve still been a good explosive offense. I say all that to say, like the parallels are crazy. It’s Eerie how similar Dak and Tony Romo’s careers are becoming.”

Tony Romo was criticised for the same thing; he didn’t get any championship trophies to the AT&T Stadium and now those comments have been passed to Dak as a memorabilia to carry. But let’s compare Prescott to Tony Romo for a minute. In his 8 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Prescott is 2-5 in the playoffs. Tony Romo was 2-4 in the playoffs for the entirety of his 12 year career with the Cowboys.

Moreover, Prescott has more wins (73-41-0) than Tony Romo in the regular season (78-49-0). Again, Romo’s numbers encompass his 12 year career, while Prescott has these numbers in just 8 seasons. If everything goes right this season, Prescott might even pass Romo in terms of total passing yards. He has a better touchdown to interception ratio, more rushing yards and more rushing touchdowns.

But Helman was right when he mentioned, “It’s Eerie how similar Dak and Tony Romo’s careers are becoming.” Despite Prescott surpassing Tony Romo is mostly all regards, he’s still getting hate from Cowboys fans, a trajectory which Tony Romo is completely familiar with. No matter how well you do, people are going to find ways to drag you down to the ground. If this is not a crab mentality, then what is?

November 3, 2013, was the darkest day of Prescott’s life. A young Mississippi State QB lost his mother to colon cancer. A truly harrowing incident. Her last wish was for Dak to excel at football and he’s doing it just fine. What’s more devastating is the fact that his brother, Jace, committed suicide on April 23, 2020 and that was the same year Prescott broke his ankle. If that wasn’t enough for you to take in, Skip Bayless did something that made Prescott’s ordeal a pedestrian issue on live television.

Dak recalled of a time when he was depressed a couple of days before his brother passed. Understandably, he didn’t go to trainings or worked out. Skip Bayless saw this as a sign of weakness and went on a tangent on his show Undisputed.

“Because of all that, I don’t have sympathy with him going public that ‘I got depressed. I suffered depression early in COVID to the point that I couldn’t even go work out,’” Bayless said. “Look, he’s the quarterback of America’s team. You know and I know, this sport that you play, it is dog eat dog. It is no compassion. No quarter given on the football field.”

So what actually is “pressure”? It’s better if you decided for yourself if Dak has been doing exceptional and doing his best with the cards he’s been dealt with. Persevering, taking responsibility, managing his team, being his best on media days and still no contract? That’s got to be outrageous! Even then, he emphasised that he doesn’t play for money, just his love for the game of football.