Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott confirmed with sports journalist Graham Bensinger that his brother’s death was a suicide, according to the Dallas Morning News .
Dak’s older sibling, Jace Prescott, passed away unexpectedly on April 24 in Orange, Texas at the age of 31. The death still remains an open investigation by the Pinehurst Police Department, although the Prescott family believes that Jace took his own life.
In a recent interview, Dak explained that Jace cared for their mother, Peggy, throughout the duration of her battle with colon cancer. After Peggy died in 2013, a lot of grief was experienced by everyone in the household.
In the same interview, Dak and his older brother Tad explained how they originally heard the news of Jace’s passing. Dak said that after his father informed him, he struggled to make sense of the shocking information he had just received.
Tad, on the other hand, heard the news from his fiancée and originally thought his younger sibling’s death was the result of an accident.
According to Complex , Jace was one of the main reasons Dak decided to play quarterback, and Dak recalled how hard he was pushed by his brother when they were younger, in order for him to get better.
“He meant a lot to my family,” Dak said to the media during training camp. “Meant a lot to me.”
Dak also opened up about his own struggles with anxiety and depression he has experienced recently during the initial stages of lockdown caused by the coronavirus.
“All throughout this quarantine and this offseason, I started experiencing emotions I’ve never felt before,” he explained. “Anxiety for the main one. And then, honestly, a couple of days before my brother passed, I would say I started experiencing depression. And to the point of, I didn’t want to work out anymore. I didn’t know necessarily what I was going through, to say the least, and hadn’t been sleeping at all.”
The offseason has provided numerous unexpected challenges that Dak was forced to deal with. Not only did he lose his sibling, but he dealt with criticism after hosting a small party for his girlfriend’s birthday at his house in Prosper, Texas, during the peak of the global pandemic.
Additionally, after months of negotiating with the franchise, he did not receive the long-term contract with the Dallas Cowboys that he was anticipating being offered.
“It has been a tough year. Been a tough year for me personally. Been a tough year for my family. Been a tough year for this country and this world,” he said.
Although the fifth-season quarterback has been faced with turmoil, he is optimistic about the upcoming season and hopes to make his mark with the Cowboys.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For readers outside the U.S., visit Suicide.org or Befrienders Worldwide for international resources you can use to find help.