Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott disputes that report that he had up to 30 people at his house on Friday night.
“I understand and accept that there are additional responsibilities and media scrutiny that come with being an NFL quarterback, but it is very frustrating and disappointing when people provide completely inaccurate information from anonymous sources, especially now,” Prescott said in a statement issued to PFT. “To set the record straight, I know that we all need to do our best to socially distance and like everyone else, I am continuing to adjust to what that requires, but the truth is that I was with fewer than 10 people for a home dinner — not a party — on Friday night. I am very sensitive to the challenges we are all facing and making sure to support the first responders and medical personnel and everyone else putting in long hours. We are all at a time when we need to keep educating ourselves about the importance of health and isolation during this pandemic and I will continue to make sure to do my part by following the guidelines until we are approved to start returning to normal activities.”
Prescott’s statement doesn’t address the fact that merely having visitors to his home from their own homes violates the pending “stay at home” order in Texas. Even though Prescott didn’t violate the order because he was in his own home, he facilitated the violations necessarily committed by others, like Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.
TMZ.com posted photos from the gathering, and reported that the event had at one point as many as 30 people in Prescott’s home for a friend’s birthday party.
One photo showed a table prepared for a meal, with place settings that would have placed the people sitting at the table far closer than six feet apart. This, according to source who requested anonymity, was not a photo of Dak’s dining room, and it was not used in any way for the dinner party. Instead, it came from the restaurant that supplied the food, “with the acknowledgement that we will celebrate soon.”
Earlier in the day, Cowboys COO Stephen Jones addressed the situation in a manner that strongly implied fault on the part of Prescott and Elliott, who reportedly was present for the event at Prescott’s home.
“We’ve certainly communicated with Dak and Zeke,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “And I think they’re certainly aware now of how sensitive these situations are. I don’t think you’ll be seeing that any more. They are certainly guys we have the utmost respect for. I certainly know they understand the sensitivity of the situation we’re in, it’s certainly very serious, and something we know they understand.”
So regardless of what did or didn’t happen on Friday night, the message has been sent. Here’s hoping that anyone paying attention to the situation realizes the importance of continuing to respect stay at home orders, both by staying home and by not inviting others to leave their homes for a visit, a dinner, whatever.