By Lenn Robbins
From the school of, “Just Don’t Call Him Late for Dinner,” we give you Rayne Dakota Prescott, quarterback of America’s Team. Oh, you thought his first name was Dak? Nope.
Prescott’s first name is Rayne but classmates kept mispronouncing it so he went with Dak.
“Just from the get-go, immediate rejection,” Prescott said. “When I started off school, they would always call me Rayne [RAINY] or Rayne [RYE-KNEE] or something — they’d (be) like, ‘This is a girl’s name,’ so I just always went by Dakota, but I was given Dak by birth, so my family’s always called me Dak.
“I’m good with Rayne. I love Rayne now. I’ve grown into it. I’ve grown to like it. I might go just by Rayne Dakota one day, skip the last name.”
Prescott’s mother, Peggy, who died in 2013 from colon cancer, named Dak after “The Dakota Dude,’ one of three bulls on the cartoon program, “Wild West C.O.W – Boys of Moo Mesa. His brothers are named Tad and Jace (not after the other two bulls.).
Prescott’s odds of winning the NFL’s MVP award this season is +1200. If you bet $100 on Prescott to win that award, you win $1200.
What Prescott certainly can go by is “Elite Quarterback.” With a healthy Prescott (he missed almost all of the 2020 season with a severe ankle injury), the Cowboys led the NFL in offense, gaining 6,919 yards and averaging 407 per game.
Prescott, 28, threw 37 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions last season. He completed 410-of-596 pass attempts for 4,449 yards and a 104.2 rating, third best in the league. The next step for Prescott is to lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl title. Then you can simply call him, “Champ.”
THE PRESCOTT FILE
- First team All-SEC, 2014, 2015
- Single-game Orange Bowl records for passing yards (453) attempts (51) and completions (tie, 33)
- NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, 2016
- Signed a four-year, $160-million contract, 2021