Dak Prescott reportedly hosted a 30-person birthday party over the weekend, which, under normal circumstances, would be perfectly acceptable.
These, however, are not normal circumstances. The coronavirus pandemic has killed over 100,000 people worldwide, including Karl-Anthony Towns' mother, who passed away Monday.
Brandon Tierney and Tiki Barber, like many, could not believe Prescott thought this was a good idea.
“What is Dak Prescott thinking right now?” Tierney asked. “What goes through his mind where he believes that he has a license – aside from being young and perceiving himself to be beyond reproach physically – and I understand that on some level. I do. But we’re deep enough [into the pandemic]. This isn’t two, three, five days, a week into it, 10 days, where we’re still trying to diagnose what is in front of us, what is behind us, the carnage of bodies and makeshift cemeteries and makeshift hospitals popping up all over. Dak Prescott, what are you doing?”
Prescott’s backfield teammate, Ezekiel Elliott, reportedly attended the party.
“I’ve said this for a long time, and it’s even more so now: Athletes, especially young athletes, feel like they’re invincible,” Barber said. “They feel like they’re not going to succumb to whatever ails the rest of society – for whatever reason. Because they’re divine or they’re strong or they feel like luck is on their side. But the reality is for them they probably think, ‘It’s been two weeks. It’s been three weeks. None of us are carriers of COVID-19 or coronavirus, and we’re probably safe, so let’s go have a party. Who’s going to get hurt?’
“The problem is they’re examples,” Barber continued. “If they can’t do things quietly – meaning without posting things to social media and becoming the bad example – we take offense to it, and it makes us question what in the heck are you thinking? . . . As an athlete and an example, you have to be abundantly cautious and be a better example than what Dak was doing over the weekend.”
As it stands, Prescott will be perceived as insensitive, irresponsible, or ill-informed – or some combination thereof.
“It’s just blatant disregard for what people are dying from, and Dak Prescott’s got to be better than this,” Tierney said. “Dak Prescott really has to look in the mirror. He’s got to look in the mirror. He’s got to be better.”