Dak Prescott is the youngest of three brothers. His older brothers played football but were both linemen. Nobody expected Prescott to ever play quarterback, never mind be the leader for the Dallas Cowboys. When Prescott was younger, he wanted to be the guy under center but had many doubters. It took an insurance job for him to get on the path to being an NFL quarterback.

Dak Prescott quieted his doubters

Throughout his life, Dak Prescott heard he would never become an NFL quarterback. With the help of his late mother Peggy, he learned to believe in himself. His confidence played a big part in getting him to where he is today.

Prescott played college football at Mississippi State. He wasn’t drafted until the fourth round in the 2016 NFL draft. The Dallas Cowboys selected Prescott with no intention of having him come in as the starting quarterback. Veteran Tony Romo was already locked in place and Prescott, at best, was slated to be No. 3 on the quarterback depth chart.

Both Romo and backup quarterback, Kellen Moore, were injured prior to the 2016 season, and Prescott was forced into the starting role as a rookie. He led the Cowboys to a 13-3 record and was selected to the Pro Bowl. Prescott has never missed a start since, and his doubters have certainly been quieted.

Prescott on the verge of a big payday

Dak Prescott is in his fifth season as the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. He has made the Pro Bowl twice (2016, 2018) and has tossed 103 touchdown passes (postseason included) in his career. Last season, Prescott lit up the stat sheet, throwing for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdown passes, both career highs.

During this offseason, Prescott watched Patrick Mahomes sign a deal that could be worth $500 million with the Kansas City Chiefs. He also saw Deshaun Watson ink a deal worth $156 million over four years with the Houston Texans. Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t agree on a long-term extension, so he is playing under the franchise tag this season.

The money numbers for quarterbacks keep going up. As long as Prescott keeps putting up the football numbers, he’ll get his payday. If Dallas doesn’t step up and pay him, someone else will.

An insurance job helped Prescott become a quarterback

During Prescott’s youth football days, nobody believed he would become a quarterback. “When your older brothers are a defensive lineman and an offensive lineman, why in the world would the little brother be a quarterback?” Prescott said in an interview with Graham Bensinger.

“When I first started playing football, I was playing running back, linebacker. The coach’s son was the quarterback. Thank God, the coach had to go take an insurance job because the other coach then moved me to quarterback in my sixth-grade year of recreational ball.”

That move opened the door for his quarterback career. “When I got into high school – many years before that, the coaches that were coaching my brothers, the offensive coordinator, I love him to death and he’s a great friend of mine – for years he said ‘he won’t be a quarterback. He won’t be the quarterback of this team.’ Sure enough, I get to high school, catch a little growth spurt and I started playing quarterback and throwing the ball well. By my sophomore year, there was no doubt.”

Statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference.