Friday 30 June 2017 12:38, UK
Dak Prescott has opened up about his great relationship with Tony Romo despite taking his job as Dallas Cowboys' starting quarterback.
When Prescott appeared on The Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday, more was revealed about his ascent to stardom and the relationship between him and previous starter Romo.
After missing most of 2015 with collarbone and shoulder injuries, seasoned veteran Romo was expected to have one final hurrah last year, but was hurt in the team's third preseason game.
Prescott, a fourth-round rookie, took over and the rest, as they say, is history.
The former Mississippi State Bulldog went on to lead the Cowboys to an NFC-topping 13-3 record, threw 23 touchdowns compared to only four interceptions, and was voted as the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year while Romo watched from the sidelines.
Romo returned to Dallas' active roster in week 11, but the rookie wasn't rattled and remained the starter until the Cowboy's playoff defeat to Green Bay.
It can be a hard transition for veterans to see a youngster take over from them, but Prescott explained to Eisen that Romo was a supporter more than anything else.
"Tony did an amazing job of helping me out. I think Tony realised that he couldn't necessarily control whether he was going to play or not, but what he could control was our relationship.
"I feel Tony did a great job, and I commend Tony and thank him so much for that - being another coach for me, helping me out on the game, in the middle of a game, at practice, on the field, off the field, giving me advice.
"He went through exactly what I went through in taking over the position from an older veteran and knowing what it's like to be a quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys."
Prescott was referring to Romo's debut season in 2006. The starter at the time, Drew Bledsoe, was pulled during the season and Romo came in and never looked back.
He knew what it took to hold off a veteran who doesn't want to give up their job and Prescott went on to confirm that it never got uncomfortable between the pair.
"It truly never did," he revealed to Eisen. "That's why I commend him - I don't know how he felt personally, but obviously I knew as much of a competitor as he is, that he wanted to play."
Romo, a productive starter for the last 10 years, was likely itching to get on the field, but it didn't get in the way of helping Dak.
"As much success as he's had in this league, he probably felt that he should play. But it never did [get in the way], and as I said he always was so helpful to me.
"I felt it was genuine and I commend him for that."
Earlier this off-season, there were rumours the 37-year old Romo would be traded to QB-needy franchises such as Houston and Denver, but they opted against it. It was clear he stood no chance of wrestling the position back from Prescott.
Instead, he was released by the Cowboys and shortly thereafter he was hired by CBS Sports as an analyst for their NFL coverage.
Dallas welcome their players back on July 22, where Prescott will start his first training camp as the full-time starter, while the Cowboys kick off their season at home against the New York Giants on September 11.
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The regular season of home and away matches run from September to December 2017, culminating in PlayOffs from January 6, 2018 and the Super Bowl on February 4, 2018 at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota to determine the world champion.
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