Now Worth $60 Million, Dak Prescott Once Refused to Talk Negatively About His Poverty Stricken Childhood; “Saw it as a Way of Life”

The NFL is full of rags-to-riches stories. Dak Prescott, leading America’s team, also has a similar story. But while many might consider his life a story of struggle to success, Prescott doesn’t see it as such.

Worth a whopping $60 million now, a figure only expected to go up in the future, Prescott grew up in a trailer park, in poverty. He was the youngest of three brothers, living with their single mother who managed a truck stop. It was here that Prescott’s journey with football started, a journey that was able to pull him and his family out of poverty.

While many with the same background might describe their pre-success life as a struggle, Prescott thinks differently. He might’ve grown up poor, but his family was rich in love and support. That’s the same sentiment he displayed in his conversation in 2020 on ‘In Depth With Graham Besinger,’ as he described the place where he grew up, “It was great. It was a great town. Very diverse, very mixed for the most part. Grew up in the trailer park, it’s who I am.“

Refusing to talk negatively about his childhood, he rather credited it for the success he enjoys today as he said,

“I don’t have any other way to describe it except to say it who I am. It’s the reason I do things today, it’s the reason I see the good in everybody. It was poverty in a sense…and if you had a mom like I did and brothers like I did…I didn’t see it as a struggle, I saw it as a way of life.”

Yes, the Cowboys QB grew up in poverty, but he didn’t see it as a struggle. He wouldn’t be the person he is today, without the experiences he had as a child. And if he were to call his childhood a struggle, he would be discrediting his mother and his brothers:

“I was proud of where I lived. I am so proud of where I lived, now because if I didn’t live there, if I wasn’t around the people that I was, I wouldn’t be the same person today. For me to say it was a struggle, I would be discrediting my mom and my brothers, it was my way of life.”

Dak Prescott credits his mom Peggy for all the achievements in his life. According to him, she was his best friend, his mother, his coach, his teacher, and everything else. His brothers Tad and Jace taught him how to play in a field behind the trailer park. So, yes, Dak Prescott had a difficult childhood, but he was surrounded by love, faith, and support, rich in their own way. The 30-year-old carries this positivity with him through life.

Dak Prescott Serves as an Inspiration

Dak Prescott is an inspiration for many. Not only for those aspiring to a successful football career but also those who want to live a happier, more positive life. Prescott shares this positivity with the world as he helps those in need and facing hardships. Through his foundation Faith, Fight, Finish, Prescott does a myriad of charitable work, with the main focus on colon cancer research.

In November 2013, Dak Prescott faced the heartbreaking loss of his mother to colon cancer when he was just twenty years old, midway through his sophomore year at Mississippi State. Dak chose to pay tribute to his mother by fulfilling what he believed she would have wished for him.

He played a pivotal role in guiding the Bulldogs to their inaugural achievement of the number one national ranking that same year and concluded the 2013 season by earning the MVP title at the Liberty Bowl and securing a spot on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. Dak’s way of being grateful for everything he had when he didn’t have the luxuries he enjoys today, makes him a role model and an example for ones who struggle to find positivity in life. “At the end of the day, my purpose and the reason I’m at this platform is not for football, it’s to share my story. It’s to inspire others,“ he says.