FRISCO - Dak Prescott does not hesitate in talking about adversity, in his life and in general.
At the same time, as he enters his 10th in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, he has reached life's peaks in so many ways.
He's in love with fiancee Sarah Jane Ramos. The couple just welcomed their second child, another baby girl, to the world. He tops the NFL in salary at an all-time high $60 million per year, which helps him do things like tear down his $3 million mansion to build something bigger and to donate mountains of money (and his time) to charitable causes.
But ...
He has yet to reach the pinnacle of the sport.
With Prescott approaching his 32nd birthday in the coming months - yes, there will be the annual cake smashed into his face on July 29 once we get to Oxnard and training camp - it is only natural for him to think about the legacy he will leave when his playing career comes to an end.
Right?
"I'll be damned if it's just for my legacy, for this team, for my personal being, for my sanity,'' he said of that "pinnacle.'' "I want to win a championship.''
That would of course apply if he was making $600,000 instead of $60 million.
But in our experience covering the NFL and the Cowboys for more than 35 years, it also takes leadership and talent and luck and an obsession with capturing a Super Bowl.
And Dak?
He has made it clear that he couldn't care less about his legacy — he wants that ring.
Prescott said, "The legacy, whatever comes after I finish playing, will take care of itself. I want to win a championship. The legacy will take care of itself, I have to stay where my feet are."
The bad news, for right now? It's not being hyper-critical that while Dak's "legacy'' as a person, as a citizen, as a teammate, is pristine ...
As a football star, Dak's legacy is that he is a good regular-season quarterback with a 2-5 record in the NFL playoffs.
Entering Year 10, time is of the essence for Dak to get that elusive Super Bowl ... in part because of his age but also because his gigantic $240 million contract becomes escapable in two years.
The Super Bowl drought is going on 30 years. That's not all Dak's fault, obviously, as he has accomplished so much - he'll soon likely hold the franchise records for wins (he's 18 behind Troy Aikman), passing yards (he's 2,746 behind Tony Romo), and passing touchdowns (he's 35 behind Romo) in the next couple seasons.
But in the end, those things won't matter much ... not to anybody who is obsessed a about winning Cowboys championship ... at which point the legacy will indeed take care of itself.