PRESCOTT PLEDGES $1M FOR TRAINING
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is pledging $1 million to “improve our police training and address systematic racism through education and advocacy,” he wrote Wednesday morning.
The pledge came with a lengthy statement on Prescott’s Instagram account in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the subsequent protests across the country demanding action against police brutality and systemic racism.
“As a Black Multiracial American, I am disgusted and unsettled!” Prescott wrote. “To be humble and to see every man and woman as the same takes humility and accountability.
“AS OUR COMMUNITIES TAKE ACTION, PROTESTING AND FIGHTING FOR THE JUSTICE OF GEORGE FLOYD AND EVERY BLACK LIFE, I AM WITH YOU!”
Prescott voiced his support for protests and riots, expressing his belief that black people “have rights that aren’t being perceived equally.”
He discouraged looting and violence while challenging police to hold fellow officers accountable.
“How can you claim to uphold the law when those within your own ranks don’t abide by it?” Prescott wrote. “You need to hold your own accountable! Each of you are as guilty as the men who stood besides Derek Chauvin if you do not stand up against the systemic racism plaguing our police forces nationwide. TAKE ACTION!”
Prescott has started every game since Dallas selected him in the fourth round, 135th overall, of the NFL draft in 2016. The Cowboys placed an exclusive franchise tag, now worth $31.4 million for the 2020 season, on him in March. The two sides hope to work out a longterm contract before the July 15 deadline, after which he would play the upcoming regular season on the one-year tag.
Prescott hasn’t done any formal interviews since late January, staying mostly quiet during the COVID-19 pandemic. His older brother Jace, who was 31, died on April 23.
Prescott addressed the pandemic and his brother’s death in more detail Wednesday than he had previously.
“Anxiety became something I had to understand and battle with as I searched to find a purpose without the game of football around,” Prescott wrote. “I wanted to help, make a change, be a part of something that fixed the pandemic. During that search, I lost an Idol, my brother.”
Prescott said losing Jace, in conjunction with the loss of his mother – she died of colon cancer in 2013 – drive his desire to act.
“As I process the passing of my brother, I have come to realize we are not given a voice to pronounce how much we matter,” Prescott wrote. “It is our obligation to tell our neighbor how much they matter to us and take a stand for the greater good of each other.
“BLACK LIVES MATTER!”