Dak Prescott is using his considerable platform- as both the much-beloved and much-hated quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys- to bring awareness to a movement that’s close to his heart.
But the reigning Walter Payton Man of the Year and current MVP candidate is taking some comedic potshots at his team’s on-the-field competitors at the same time.
Prescott is the star of a new public service announcement urging people to get screened for colorectal cancer. But despite the serious subject matter, this short video uses humor and profanity to get the point across in a very tongue-in-cheek way.
Probably gonna get a lot of $h!t for this. @LeadFromBehind pic.twitter.com/lcwEtDJ3PP
— Dak Prescott (@dak) December 8, 2023
Perhaps not surprisingly, the irreverent clip is from the minds of actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who have helped spearhead Lead from Behind, an initiative aimed at raising public awareness about the second-deadliest form of cancer, one that also happens to be largely preventable through early detection methods like the at-home screening kits Prescott is promoting in this PSA.
Colon cancer claimed the life of Peggy Prescott, Dak’s mother, in 2013, while he was at Mississippi State. Much of Prescott’s considerable philanthropy work and community service has involved organizations that help others dealing with cancer and the extreme adversity that the disease brings to families.
“It’s what’s important to me,” Prescott said in a segment on TODAY that featured the new PSA. “That is my story.”
But the story about Prescott’s spot will no doubt be the bleeped language used as the polarizing leader of America’s Team explains, “I get a lot of [expletive],” while clips of fans berating Prescott’s quarterbacking skills play in the background.
And if that doesn’t get your attention, Prescott then goes on to explain how an at-home collection kit works, with the 30-year-old even suggesting stickers of “something you want to [expletive] on right on the underside.” To illustrate, the Cowboys star shows a container festooned with stickers of a dolphin, an “old-timey” gold prospector, and an eagle.
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
A visit to the Lead from Behind website allows fans to download a complete set of stickers that also represent other NFL teams- and even a referee- in generic-but-pointedly-obvious fashion.
During the kit’s placement inside a toilet bowl, the spot even features a perfectly-timed “Here we goooo” from the self-effacing quarterback.
The PSA points out, in a voiceover from Reynolds, that Prescott “agreed to star in this video we wrote for him without any concern for his safety.”
Prescott knows he may catch some good-natured flak for appearing in the light-hearted clip about a bodily function most people would rather not discuss. (As he points out while sharing the clip on his own social media account, “Probably gonna get a lot of [expletive] for this.”) But he also knows the potential upside of boosting his message far outweighs the dangers of people not taking colorectal cancer screenings seriously.
“I hope somebody watches that, I hope somebody laughs, and I hope somebody says, ‘You know, this is easier than I thought.'”
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