Josh Butler fires back at critics, crowning Dak Prescott a top-five quarterback while praising his off-field humanitarianism and locker room leadership amid relentless external media scrutiny.
You can infer that part of why Dak Prescott commands the NFL's highest per-year salary is because there are unprecedented amounts of pressure and extracurricular responsibilities placed on the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys - sport's most popular brand - that no other player quite realizes.
And in the media-saturated climate we live in, the Cowboys, including Prescott, are easy targets to bash because the discussion undoubtedly drives online engagement, thus generating impressions and revenue.
It's a tale as old as time. Still, despite our understanding of this reality, the topic of ranking quarterbacks isn't exempt from other Cowboys pitching their perspectives - ones that, like the quarterback himself, fans cannot access or even conceptualize.
Veteran Dallas cornerback Josh Butler made the latest claim, saying "no Dak hate will be tolerated."
"Somebody tried to argue with me and say Dak Prescott not top 5,” Butler said in a TikTok video arguing Prescott's rank among the NFL's best at the position.
"My quarterback? Look, you can argue with your mama, your daddy, your sister, your granddaddy, I don’t care. You’re not gonna argue with me because y’all don’t see what I see. And mind you, these just people on the internet. They’re just talking. So, do they opinion really matter? No. Not at all. Y’all like, ‘Josh B, why are you talking about it?’ Because I’m not finna go and let them sit there and lie."
Prescott will go down as the most prolific Cowboys quarterback in history, stats wise. Sure, the playoff success doesn't match the likes of Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman, but Prescott's longevity and continued excellence isn't something to disregard entirely.
The soon-to-be 11-year vet became the franchise's new career yards leader last season, a year that he spent fully healthy after another major injury. Prescott made the Pro Bowl after leading the league in completions (404), tossing for 4,552 yards and 30 touchdowns, tied for the third-most in a season in his career.
But where Prescott really makes his impact is in the locker room, where Butler explained that he can connect to Prescott as a human. That's a facet of these conversations the cornerback hopes more people begin to understand.
"Outside football, he gets a lot of hate, and I don’t understand it," Butler said. "He does a lot of stuff for the community, he does a lot of stuff for mental health, he does a lot of stuff to help people out. Y’all need to stop [spreading hate]. That’s not okay. We are normal people too. We normal human beings. Just cause we got a different job or whatever, and y’all like the sport, doesn’t mean treat us like [expletive]."
Whether it's Prescott's play on the field or his humanitarianism, Butler is urging fans and critics alike to see what he's seeing.
But then again, they probably couldn't if they tried.
"But all in all, I’m gonna say this to say this, okay? Dak Prescott is a top-five quarterback in the NFL,” Butler concluded. "I don’t care [about] your opinion. I don’t care where you’re from.
"I don’t care who your favorite team is. You can fight me about it."
