Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott threw some shade — as the kids like to say — at his teammate Ezekiel Elliot recently, suggesting that Zeke should spend less time taking off his clothes for a magazine and more time using his platform to accomplish good things.
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Of course, Prescott's comments are completely devoid of context in written form, but it's still worth noting that he seemed to call out the Cowboys' running back in a recent Q&A with Eden Laase of Sports Illustrated.
The call out in question can be found below:
SI: What did you think of Ezekiel Elliot's ESPN the Magazine's Body Issue cover?
Prescott: I think Zeke should use his platform to do things like I'm doing with Bristol Meyers Squibb for Ready. Raise. Rise. instead of doing his thing for the body issue and doing photo shoots.
SI: Would you ever pose for something like that?
Prescott: I think it would have to be in order to promote something, but I'm not really sure. I would have to get that offer first and talk it over.
The text strips Prescott of his context because he very well could have been sarcastic, calling Zeke out as a joke or in a lighthearted way, but with the context we do have, it does look like Prescott is being a bit critical.
He was talking to Laase and his main objection was to obviously raise awareness for the campaign he's working with, Ready. Raise. Raise. — which is a campaign aiming to fight cancer with the goal of raising $150,000 by the end of July.
On that note, Prescott was brilliant in his call out of Elliott, because media outlets around the sports world are picking up on this interview, thus picking up on his message. At the same time, is it smart for the young quarterback to be calling out his backfield mate heading into a very important 2017 season, especially when considering the fact that Elliott has some of his own off-field worries to deal with right now?
Ultimately, it's tough to tell exactly what Prescott was trying to accomplish with that. It would be easy to jump on him for calling out a teammate, but he could also be employing a smart PR technique for his cause. It could also just be a joke.
The problem for Prescott, Zeke and the Cowboys is that at this point we really don't have an idea.
