The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, but fans should be bullish on the team's outlook this season simply because of how Dak Prescott played. Prescott was the best player on the field for either team and deserved to come out on the winning side.
Of course, Prescott's performance isn't the lead story today. It's the heinous spitting incident that led to Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter getting ejected before the game's opening drive. The NBC broadcast caught Carter spitting on Prescott's jersey. Prescott shared his side of the story postgame and it will have Cowboys fans even more irate at the whole ordeal.
Prescott said that he probably spit 1,000 times throughout the game and that he wasn't aiming for Carter. The NBC broadcast showed Prescott step out of Dallas' huddle to spit, but at the ground - not at Carter, who proceeded to ask if Prescott was trying to spit on him.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott responds to Jalen Carter spitting incident
Here's some of Prescott's response via ESPN's Adam Schefter:
"He was trolling, I guess you could say, trying to mess with Tyler Booker ... I guess I needed to spit, and I wasn't going to spit on my lineman and I just spit ahead. I would say he (Carter) was back there and he goes,'Are you trying to spit on me?' At that point, I felt like he was insulting me. I wouldn't spit on somebody. We're about to play a game. I'm wondering why you're trying to mess with a rookie, and so when I stepped through, I actually say the words like, 'What would I need to spit on you for?' He just spit on me in the moment and it was more of a surprise than anything."
If you're on social media saying "Dak spit first", please come back to reality.
Athletes spit. Was Prescott trying to get inside Carter's head? Perhaps, but is that not part of professional sports? The broadcast clearly showed Prescott spitting at the ground, not at Carter. Nothing should have escalated from that, no matter what Prescott did or said beforehand. It was inexcusable from Carter, who clearly has some growing up to do.
While Prescott deserves flowers for playing out of his mind, it is downright remarkable that he kept his composure after being spit on. In most circumstances, a brawl would have ensued, and rightfully so. Spitting on someone is the ultimate sign of disrespect. The self control that Prescott showed was arguably the most impressive part of the night, which says a lot.
The NFL doesn’t usually suspend players who get ejected. But Carter absolutely deserves to miss games. Spitting on another player may not cause physical harm, but it’s every bit as egregious as throwing a punch. A lot of people would argue that it's worse.
Hopefully, the league does the right thing, but we're not holding out breath.
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