Cowboys’ Dak Prescott apologizes after crediting fans for throwing garbage at NFL referees in loss to 49ers

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was quite vocal about his stance of the officials who refereed his team’s 23-17 loss to the 49ers on Sunday afternoon.

Now, after some reflection, and public backlash, he’s apologizing. 

Prescott gave ‘credit’ to Cowboys fans for throwing objects at referees after Dallas’ failed comeback attempt.

His comments were widely rebuked across the NFL community. It even spilled over into the NBA community, leading the NBA Referees Association to come to the NFL Referees Association’s defense. 

“The NBRA condemns the comments by Dak Prescott condoning violence against game officials,” the association said via Twitter on Tuesday. “As an NFL leader, he should know better. We encourage the NFL to take action to discourage this deplorable behavior in the future.” 

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The NFL Referees Association has yet to comment on the matter, though this act from the NBRA appears to be one of solidarity to the NFLRA.

The Cowboys, who advanced the football to San Francisco’s 24-yard line with eight seconds remaining, were unable to snap the ball after an official ran into the Cowboys’ offensive line, disabling them from calling another play. 

After the game, when asked about his thoughts on fans throwing garbage on the field, believing they were doing it towards Cowboys players, said, “Nobody wants to succeed more than we want to succeed,” Prescott said initially. “I understand words and the word ‘fan,’ for fanatic. But to know everything we put into this, day in and day out, tried our hardest, nobody comes into the game wanting to expecting or lose. For people to react that way when you’re supposed to be a supporter and be with us through thick and thin, that’s tough.”

When reporters told Prescott that fans were hurling garbage at officials, he modified his stance. “Credit to them,” he said, which was met with laughter. 

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Prescott has yet to be reprimanding by the NFL for his comments. The league has handed down punishments to players and coaches in the past for criticism of officials in the past, with penalties typically ranging from $12,500-$25,000. It’s unclear what kind of fine crediting fans for throwing garbage at officials may yield, however.

Prescott, who was quick to blame officials in the Cowboys’ playoff loss to the 49ers, has received sharp criticism for how he managed the Cowboys final possession, including from former Cowboys receiver and Locked On Podcast Network insider Isaiah Stanback. 

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“Dak did a great job pushing it down as far as he can, I think he got down to about the 23-yard line,” Stanback said. “He slid, got down. When he came up, typically you want to give the ball to the referee. The referee has to touch the ball before the snap. That was mistake number one.

“If you go back and look at the still shot, the referee got his hand on the ball with four seconds left,” he said. “So four seconds left, the referee had his hand on the ball, to the time that Dak tried to snap it and spike it, time ran out.” 

Time will tell if Prescott will be disciplined for his comments.