LAS VEGAS — Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will often wear a message on his sleeve. Well, specifically, he’ll put it on his wrist tape.
Prescott has often written “Ask 4 help,’ there as a reminder for people to have conversations about mental health and to not shy away from being vulnerable. There’s strength in that, he said after Monday’s 33-16 win over the Raiders.
But that message was seen on multiple signs inside Allegiant Stadium on Monday. Prescott decided to do a new one on Monday. He wrote “One love,” in honor of his teammate Marshawn Kneeland, who died by suicide 11 days prior.
“Sometimes I change up the message,” said Prescott, who threw four touchdowns on Monday, “and it was just the right message tonight.”
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The two words were spoken a lot in the wake of Kneeland’s passing. He loved those words, coaches and teammates recalled.
“It’s one love,” Prescott said on Monday. “We get one life, right? We all do. We’re responsible for being the best neighbor to the person next to us and giving them everything that they need in life that we’re capable of giving. To show the world one love and try to go out there and play focused and allow my play and my focus and my relationship with my teammates to hopefully be an example of that.”
Prescott has been a mental health advocate for years. It’s a pillar in his “Faith, Fight, Finish” foundation in honor of his brother, Jace, who died by suicide in 2020.
Prescott, wearing a hat that said “Love your people,” has been a big proponent of having mental health conversations and eliminating any stigma that may come from asking for help. After Monday’s game, he was asked about it.
“That’s being vulnerable. That’s not necessarily being weak,” Prescott said. “To have courage or to show strength, there has to be that counter of that. There has to be that moment of vulnerability. There has to be that moment of weakness for you to even exemplify your courage or exemplify your braveness or how strong you can be. There has to be adversity to overcome. With that being said … it’s real. We all have foreign thoughts, and not all of us are capable and strong enough to counteract those thoughts and understand they are foreign. That makes us feel different and puts us in different moods, and I think that’s the most important part: being aware of who you are and your moods and your daily acts. Not everybody understands that. When you get in those down moments — those depressed moments — it’s about talking. It’s about being a good neighbor.”
On Monday, it was also about one love.
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