Dak Prescott’s Cowboy’s legacy is getting harder to deny

Dak Prescott has been under a lot of heat throughout his career as the Dallas Cowboys are still looking to end decades of a championship drought. What you can’t deny, though, is while playoff success has evaded him, he is absolutely one of the best Dallas Cowboys players to ever wear the uniform. 

Along with becoming the Cowboys all-time passing leader, in his career he’s the Cowboys’ leader in fourth quarter/OT comebacks with 25 (including Sunday). He led the largest comeback in team history on Sunday, scoring 24 unanswered to beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Quite literally, the only thing he needs to solidify himself in Dallas lore is a Super Bowl ring. 

Dak Prescott’s Dallas legacy is far better than anyone thought it would be

Prescott doesn’t necessarily have anything left to prove, but he does have to win a Super Bowl in Dallas before he retires. The greatest Cowboys are remembered for being on the championship teams. Even though Tony Romo and Dez Bryant are just as important figures in Dallas football history, they’ll always be ridiculed for not winning the big one. 

The Cowboys have had strong seasons with Prescott, he just hasn’t been able to turn regular season success into playoff success. He’s been in the running for league MVP, been the No. 1 team in the NFC in the playoffs, he just can’t get to the NFC championship game. Can his legacy survive without a playoff run?

With what he was able to accomplish on Sunday against the Eagles you have to think he’s done enough. But people don’t remember the losers, they remember the ones that won. It’s not likely the Cowboys get to the playoffs or go on a run this year. Time is running out for him to have that penultimate moment in the postseason, but he still has time. If he wants to be a true Cowboys legend, he needs that postseason run to the Super Bowl to prove he’s just that good.

What makes Prescott’s career in Dallas impressive isn’t just that he’s accomplished so much, but the fact that he was a fourth-round pick. When Dallas drafted him, they hoped that he would be even half the player that he is, but I’m sure they didn’t expect him to be the player he is now. It’s hard to believe that when he took over for Romo, this was where his career was going to go. 

Does Dak Prescott need a Super Bowl ring or will playoff success suffice?

When you bring up Romo and that era of the Dallas Cowboys, it’s easy to say how a playoff run should be good enough for Prescott. He hasn’t played in the NFC championship once in his NFL career so to say he has to win a Super Bowl ring, it feels a bit outlandish. Some of the greatest players across all sports haven’t won a ring so if he doesn’t win at least one, does that dismiss what he accomplished?

It shouldn’t. I don’t know if Prescott has the resume for an NFL Hall of Famer. If he can string together a season where the Cowboys at least reach the NFC title game, you have to think that would be enough to put him in the same conversation as some of the greatest players to ever wear the star. 

When it comes to Hall of Fame talks, yes, he absolutely needs at least one Super Bowl and probably multiple at this point. In his career, he’s outside the top 20 for all-time passing yards. He’d need to win a couple league MVP’s and crack the top 20 all-time before we start having hall of fame conversations. But that said, what he’s done for Dallas as a whole, he should be applauded for it whether he ends the Cowboys’ championship drought or not. 

Sunday proved just why Prescott is significant to the Cowboys organization and I’m sure he’s feeling the pressure of being a fraud in the playoffs. But he still has time to change that narrative. Maybe now that he’s plastered all over the Cowboys career record books, that will give him more motivation to turn regular season dominance into postseason prosperity.