The Dallas Cowboys lost their Wild Card game to the San Francisco 49ers in heartbreaking fashion Sunday night. There were a lot of reasons the Cowboys lost, including 14 accepted penalties against them, horrible clock management by Mike McCarthy (yet again), and their offense failing to score on seven of their 11 possessions, among others. But the refs are not a reason Dallas was eliminated from the NFL playoffs. Yet, the fans feel the refs cost the Cowboys the game (as do Dak Prescott and Mike McCarthy). And, per Dak Prescott’s comments he is somehow OK with how the fans reacted at the end of the game.
Dak Prescott’s Comments Regarding Fans Reaction to Loss Are Misguided
While the Cowboys could have been better in many areas throughout the game, Dallas (McCarthy) being inept at clock management and their lack of preparation was the reason the game ended the way it did. The loss had nothing to do with refs doing anything wrong. NFL rules have always required, for obvious reasons, that the ref must spot the ball. Players cannot just decide what the line of scrimmage is. The Cowboys ran (literally) a horrible play with only 14 seconds left and then had no idea what they needed or wanted to do to try to get one more play ran before the game clock struck all zeroes.
The Reaction of the Fans
To show their frustration with the refs, Cowboys fans threw objects onto the field. Sure, being upset at the heartbreaking way the game ended is understandable. But throwing debris onto the field is not. It is dangerous and classless and unacceptable.
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Dak Prescott’s Comments
When Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was first asked about the fans tossing things onto the field, his initial comments expressed his disappointment at the actions because he believed the fans were targeting the players. But Prescott changed his tune once a reporter clarified that the fans were directing their anger, and therefore the objects, at the refs. Upon learning that Prescott said:
“Credit to them then. Yeah, credit to them. Credit. Credit to them,” Prescott said.
The last question of his press conference gave the Cowboys quarterback a chance to backtrack and handle this correctly, but instead, he continued to be classless and doubled down, saying:
“Yeah, I mean, yeah, if they weren’t at us, and if the fans felt the same way as us, and that’s what they were doing it for, yeah,” Prescott said. “I’m guessing that’s why the refs took off and got out of there so fast. Yeah, I think everybody is upset with the way that this thing played out. As I said, I’m sure a fan would feel the same way that we do.”
So Prescott only feels it is poor form for the fans to throw objects at the players? But the refs are fair game? That is a horrible take. It is obviously OK for fans to be upset and even incorrectly blame the refs in the heat of the moment, but what is not OK is resorting to throwing objects and debris at people, regardless of whether they are aimed at the refs or players. These comments are not those of a leader and Prescott needs to act as the leader of the Cowboys because he is supposed to be just that.
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