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“Your word is everything,” says Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, photographed at the annual gala for his “Faith. Fight. Finish.” Foundation gala at Dallas’ Thompson hotel, Friday, July 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
On the day I met Dak Prescott<\/a>, I learned a theory about sports. It\u2019s not just a game of competition and entertainment, goes the theory, it\u2019s a hero business. \u00a0<\/p>\n The sports teams that dominate headlines, screens and weekend plans offer something modern life has in short supply: leaders. No offense to Charles Barkley, who once famously stated he was not a role model, but sports are where we find our 21st-century gladiators, our battlefield victors,\u00a0the warriors with astonishing physical prowess and discipline who remind us of the best in ourselves. \u00a0<\/p>\n I thought about that as Dak Prescott walked into a private room at the Thompson hotel in downtown Dallas on Friday night, where his foundation \u201cFaith. Fight. Finish.\u201d was holding its fifth annual gala in about an hour. In person, Prescott was 6 feet of swoon with dark eyes that connected immediately. He took my hand in both of his. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe only have 10 minutes,\u201d I said, taking a seat across from him. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll give you 11,\u201d he said, and smiled. \u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas \u2014 maybe always, but especially these days \u2014 isn’t spilling over with heroes.\u00a0I consider Mark Cuban<\/a> a hero, and I consider Jerry Jones<\/a> a character, although an epic one. Erykah Badu<\/a> is a hero; so is Dirk Nowitzki<\/a>. Also on that list: Dak Prescott. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, you know what you do when people aren\u2019t looking,\u201d he said, when I asked why a man\u2019s character matters. \u201cYour word is everything. I\u2019ve heard a million times, it takes 25 years to build a reputation and five seconds to ruin it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne\u00a0life to save millions\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Prescott\u2019s foundation \u201cFaith. Fight. Finish.<\/a>\u201d was inspired by his mother, Peggy Prescott, the single mom who raised him in Louisiana. He was such a mama\u2019s boy (his words) that he shared a room with her from age 8 to 13, having grown tired of sharing one with his older brothers. In 2013, Peggy died of colon cancer at the age of 52. Three years later, Dak was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round. He chose the No. 4; it was his mom\u2019s September birthday. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dak Prescott and his mom, Peggy, who died in 2013 (left). Prescott remembers his mother during a 2025 game.<\/p>\n DMN archives \/ Elias Valverde II<\/p>\n Dak Prescott and his mom, Peggy, who died in 2013 (left). Prescott remembers his mother during a 2025 game (right).<\/p>\n DMN archives \/ Elias Valverde II<\/p>\n The Dak Prescott lore leading out from that moment is well known: how the low-visibility player became a household name after quarterback Tony Romo<\/a> suffered a vertical compression fracture and Prescott was thrust into the starting position, ending the 2016 season as the NFL\u2019s Offensive Rookie of the Year. \u00a0<\/p>\n The saga of the Cowboys over the next decade is not the terrain of this story, though I doubt I need to recount the ups and downs.\u00a0Prescott became one of the highest-paid athletes in the NFL, recently signing a four-year contract worth $240 million<\/a>. He also became a dad to two little girls. But in 2020, his world was shaken when his brother\u00a0Jace died by suicide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a dark time for me even before he took his life,\u201d Prescott said. \u201cIt was COVID. I was experiencing depression. I was experiencing anxiety.\u201d His dad woke him up one morning to deliver the news about his brother, and Prescott remembers writing on a slip of paper, in his grief, \u201cOne life to save millions.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Prescott had unofficially started \u201cFaith. Fight. Finish.\u201d in 2013 to honor his mom, but in 2020, it found a new mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cA real man will speak their truth\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The heroic path is not inevitably one of riches and fame, though it can be; it\u2019s one of pain turned to promise, a phrase Prescott often uses. \u201cI am not what happened to me,\u201d goes a quote often attributed to Carl Jung. \u201cI am what I choose to become.\u201d After the loss of his brother, Prescott began speaking to the press about his emotional struggles, something of a taboo in a tough-guy sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a stigma that men can\u2019t say, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m not OK,\u2019 \u201d said Prescott, leaning forward in his chair. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s about making sure a man knows that a real man will speak their truth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott speaks to The Dallas Morning News before his “Faith. Fight. Finish” Foundation gala at the Thompson hotel, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n \u201cFaith. Fight. Finish.\u201d is an enterprise with quite a wingspan: colon cancer research, suicide prevention and mental health awareness, bridging the gap between law enforcement and the community and helping people with life-challenging hardships. The law enforcement angle arose following George Floyd\u2019s death. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe, as a community, have to trust our law enforcement and vice versa,\u201d Prescott explained. As a biracial man, he found himself in a unique position to close the divide between white and Black, between officers entrusted to protect people and the citizens who could feel abandoned by that promise. In 2020, he pledged $1 million to improve police training, a number that\u2019s since grown. His foundation launched a school-based \u201cPLAY program\u201d (Prescott Leadership Academy for Youth), and\u00a0Prescott is proud of its impact. \u201cEighty-six percent of the kids in my PLAY program respect law enforcement better,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll never get a ticket,\u201d I said. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI could give you a ticket,\u201d he joked. \u201cI\u2019ve been deputized.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Signed Lionel Messi jersey and hand-rolled cigars\u00a0<\/p>\n The gala inside the Thompson hotel resembled the charity fundraisers that fill the Dallas social calendar: There was a fancy cocktail hour, followed by a fancy sit-down dinner in a banquet hall. Placards pointed toward the foundation\u2019s achievements, including $10 million raised since its inception. There were speeches and an auction, during which Prescott chitchatted with guests at various tables, a bit like a groom at a wedding.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott poses for a photo with a cigar at Bocock Brothers\u2019 booth during the annual gala for his “Faith. Fight. Finish.” Foundation at Thompson Dallas, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n The Dak Prescott gala had unusual flair, though. Let\u2019s start with the silent auction items, including a signed Lionel Messi jersey, the signed boxing gloves of Mike Tyson, a signed pair of Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s enormous sneakers, a signed Taylor Swift album (The Tortured Poets Department) and signed jerseys from Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach and Prescott. (Romo had thrown in for an auctioned golf outing.)\u00a0<\/p>\n There were cool activations \u2014 the industry term for diversions during a cocktail hour that featured tasty little bites \u2014 including a guy hand-rolling cigars. Even the gift bags looked special. Placed at each of the seats\u00a0inside the banquet hall, the tote had a phrase written on the front: Ask 4 Help. \u00a0<\/p>\n How to get a banquet hall on its feet\u00a0<\/p>\n The emotional climax of the evening came with a video introducing us to award recipient Brad Hunstable, a Granbury native who told the camera about his son Hayden, just shy of 13, before explaining that Hayden killed himself during the pandemic. \u201cCOVID killed my son but not the way you think,\u201d the grief-stricken father said in an interview that went viral. A hundred and fifty million people saw that clip, and one of them was Prescott, who eventually joined forces with Hunstable. In 2025, the duo traveled to Aledo to talk with students about suicide prevention, a moment captured by Brad Townsend in this paper<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At the gala, Prescott pledged $50,000 to Hunstable\u2019s foundation, and as the grateful father came to the stage to accept this award, the room of around 450 people rose to its feet.\u00a0Hunstable\u2019s speech was so moving I forgot to take notes. He told us suicide was the No. 2 cause of death among kids 10-17 in America. But the moment that struck me, I actually\u00a0teared up, was when\u00a0Prescott took Hunstable in a long bear hug, and before the two men parted, Prescott kissed the top of his head. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott held the fifth annual gala for his “Faith. Fight. Finish.” Foundation at the Thompson hotel, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n It\u2019s the rare evening that can bring a person to tears and lift them up at the same time, but that was the \u201cFaith. Fight. Finish.\u201d gala, which concluded with a live set from country music star Kane Brown. \u00a0<\/p>\n The name \u201cFaith. Fight. Finish.\u201d comes from Prescott\u2019s mother, like so many phrases that have inspired him. At her funeral, the preacher explained those three words represented each of the boys Peggy Prescott left behind: Dak was Faith, because he believed the best in people. His eldest brother, Tad, was Fight, because he protected others. His middle brother, Jace, was Finish, because he was trying to finish school.<\/p>\n Prescott wanted to carry his family\u2019s spirit into his foundation, aware that while he stands in the spotlight, others made him strong enough to claim it. After all, most heroes are not born; they\u2019re made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Your word is everything,” says Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, photographed at the annual gala for his “Faith.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,99207,88776,87998],"class_list":["post-380842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-sports-cowboys","tag-tp-dak-prescott","tag-tp-dallas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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