Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott says he's going to hit a beach somewhere and relax in Los Angeles before training camp starts.
But in the meanwhile, it's been evident that Prescott is more visible — and marketable — than ever as he comes off his first season as the starting quarterback of America's Team and moves toward his first full season as the unquestioned face of the franchise.
He appeared on Good Morning America last week — couldn't miss him in that sharp, bright jacket. It was just the start of a full day of media appearances. The focus of the day was to promote immuno-oncology, which Bristol-Myers Squibb says is a rapidly advancing area of cancer research. Of course, fighting cancer is a meaningful cause to Prescott, who lost his mother, Peggy, to the disease while he was a college student. His off-field story always comes back to her.
Prescott's platform and array of endorsement deals has been building steadily since last season and his first major effort in December, when he appeared in a commercial sponsored by Adidas and Champs Sports.
The banners of myriad sponsors hung at the youth camps he offered last week in his college stomping ground of Starkville, Miss., hometown of Haughton, La. and in the Dallas area in Corinth, Texas. His Twitter feed tells part of the tale, with mentions of Nicholas Air, which offers private air travel. Then there's Welch's Fruit Snacks, which supplied some kids with free spots to his camps. The Adidas logo is easy to spot scrolling through. Then there's Prescott holding a Pepsi and a bag of Tostitos. A new deal with Campbell's Chunky Soup was announced last week. You get the idea.
Prescott is managed by ProSource Sports Management, an agency located in his home state, in Monroe, La. The agency outsourced some of his marketing to Peter Miller of JABEZ Marketing Group.
Walter Jones Jr., part of Prescott's management team at ProSource, said that they were able to sort through opportunities as Prescott emerged during his rookie season, when he unexpectedly became the NFL's offensive rookie of the year after longtime starter Tony Romo was injured.
"We knew he was capable of doing what he was doing, but no one had any idea this would happen as fast as it did," Jones said. "There were sponsors lining up for the opportunity to work with Dak. We got a great marketing guy, and he knew that he probably needed to wait, to see how things panned out before he decided to go with a particular sponsor. ... A lot of these people tracked his performance in (training) camp, on and off the field. They kind of knew that he could be that guy. They were positioning themselves."
While Prescott is taking advantage of his new position — more high-profile announcements are on the horizon, Jones said — Prescott and those around him stress that his focus remains on football.
"Football is the train," Jones said. "All the carts behind are secondary. If he doesn't take care of the train, there won't be any cars behind him. The priority is to represent on the field, be the best football player that he can and everything else will take care of itself. That's his motto, that's what he feels even today. We're not out looking for people to merge sponsorships with. They're coming, and we're going to merge him with the groups that fit best."
Leigh Steinberg, the original super agent who is holding an agent boot camp/seminar Saturday and Sunday at SMU, said that Prescott deserves to be celebrated after leading Dallas to a 13-3 season and the playoffs. But he said the enhanced profile brings higher expectations to deliver on the field and find the right match of partners off of it.
"Once you have success on the field, it comes down to product category," Steinberg said. "You want the overall group to synergize ... and make sure you're projecting a real person the way he wants to be projected."
Prescott says he can balance obligations, working out and preparing for football while still getting in the offseason relaxation he needs. And he's actually expected back at The Star in Frisco, Texas ahead of training camp in Southern California to work with the rookies, who are reporting early. The demands on him were evident during his camps last week, when everyone wanted an interview, autograph, picture or chat.
"He's taken it all in stride, he's never shown exhaustion," Jones said. "He's always 100 percent upbeat."
Jones said he spent six weeks with Prescott as the quarterback prepared for the NFL combine and draft in early 2016.
"He wanted to become a starter in the NFL, that's all he ever cared about," Jones said. "The Cowboys were his favorite team, so naturally he would've loved to play for the Cowboys, as he is. But at that particular time, it didn't matter. He wanted to be a starter in the NFL."
The Cowboys got Prescott for a steal in the fourth round. He's slated to earn less than $3 million over his four-year rookie deal. Prescott's success has led to him being able to more than supplement his football salary.
"He's got a financial adviser," Jones said, "and they're doing a great job."
But Jones said again that football, football, football is first.
"His main objective is to be the best that he can be as a football player," Jones said. "He wants to win games for the Dallas Cowboys. And his ultimate goal is to take them to the Super Bowl. Everything else is secondary."
