Cowboys QB Dak Prescott’s quote about NFC Championship makes some people lose their minds

It seemed fairly innocuous. As the Dallas Cowboys were readying to play the Los Angeles Rams in their preseason opener on Saturday, quarterback Dak Prescott was on the field with ownership from both teams. Word began to circulate that Dak told Stan Kroenke, the Rams owner, that the Cowboys would meet Los Angeles in the NFC Championship Game.

This just seems like the way athletes talk. This is akin to telling someone to have a great summer on the last day of school or to saying Merry Christmas on a random December day. It is the thing that you say in the moment and in this moment there were two NFC teams chatting with the season’s full beginning just around the corner. Consider it another version of “good luck this year.”

Obviously things are never simple when it comes to the Cowboys, and the response to this comment has proven that. For the most part, there have been three different responses floating around:

1. “Let’s go Dak! This is the year!”
2. “I know some people are upset, but what else is he supposed to say? Dak has to be the leader. Even if he doesn’t believe this himself, he has to convey optimism, hope and positivity to those around him.”
3. “LOL THE COWBOYS ARE TERRIBLE CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW STUPID DAK IS FOR SAYING THIS?”

It’s hard to believe that anyone would feel any of these ways. Whether you are taking what Dak said positively or negatively, you are making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Dak will probably say the same thing to the Atlanta Falcons next week as they are another NFC team. He will probably tell the Baltimore Ravens that he hopes to see them in the Super Bowl when the Cowboys meet them a few days from now.

The Cowboys are the nuclear straw that stirs the drink and so it is low-hanging fruit for someone to take “Dak Prescott guarantees trip to NFC Championship Game” and run with it, but does anybody really think that’s what happened here? Are we really incapable of seeing that this was clearly just a casual comment from one NFC player to an NFC owner?

America’s Team. Or whatever.