Posted on July 8, 2017, by Travis Pulver
The legion of Dallas Cowboys haters across the country were in seventh heaven recently when the news broke about a possible autograph scandal involving quarterback Dak Prescott. If there is anything they like more than the Cowboys losing, it is when one of the Cowboys gets in trouble. It doesn’t matter if it is with the law or just in the court of public opinion.
Any reason to hate on the Dallas Cowboys is a good reason to them.
Via @spotcowboys
So, when Prescott was accused of possibly using a machine to sign autographs on trading cards, well—it might as well have been Christmas. If there was one Cowboy the haters would love to see knocked down a peg or two, it’s Prescott.
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While there was no proof directly linking Prescott to the signatures an expert identified as fake, it still looked pretty bad for him. As far as anyone knew, the autographs on the cards in question were fake, but it was impossible to tell who was responsible for them.
In the Court of Public Opinion that doesn’t matter. All it takes is for the accusation to be made in order to be ‘convicted.’ Many didn’t hesitate to do just that and indicated as much in the comment section of whatever post they were reading—and all without hearing a thing from Prescott, his representatives, or the trading card company, Panini America.
But that has now changed. We have yet to hear anything directly from Prescott, but the people from Panini America have spoken with his representatives and concluded their own investigation into the matter. The haters are not going to like what they had to say.
He didn’t do it and has no knowledge of where the cards came from.
Of course, he is going to say he didn’t do it. But do they believe him? They must since they went ahead and signed him a long-term extension.
So—all is well that ends well? Not exactly.
The company did find that some of the cards may not be authentic. So, they are recalling the 167 in circulation and stopping 110 from being shipped. They will be replacing them for fans with new, authenticated Prescott hologram cards.
Prescott emerged as the unexpected savior last season after the team lost Tony Romo and backup Kellen Moore to serious injuries. As his star shined brighter, the scrutiny became sharper. Many of his skeptics took the entire season to believe in him. Many still expect him to fail this coming season.
Via @spotcowboys
He has been referred to as a product of the system. Many question his deep ball and think he is only good when it comes to short and intermediate routes.
Prescott is ready to prove them wrong:
“In Year One we just scratched the surface,” Prescott said. “We’re just getting started. I know we’ve been hitting these [offseason] workouts, and we’re just excited for what we can be as a team.”