Dak Prescott's faith doesn't depend on the score
The quarterback credited Brian Schottenheimer for the open faith in the locker room after a 34-30 comeback win in Houston.
There were 2:15 left when Dak Prescott threw the touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb and sealed the Cowboys' 34-30 victory over the Texans in Houston. After the game, according to RELEVANT Magazine, he said his faith doesn't depend on the score.
It wasn't a comfortable game. Dallas went into halftime down 16-6 and in the fourth quarter was trailing 30-27 in Houston. The comeback started with a 48-yard kickoff return by KaVontae Turpin to open the second half.
Prescott finished with 32 completions on 45 attempts, 335 yards and one touchdown. CeeDee Lamb caught 17 passes for 189 yards and passed Drew Pearson as fourth on the Cowboys' all-time receiving list, with 7,914 career yards.
«Faith that depends on the score breaks at the first loss; the one that rests in Christ endures both.»
The credit goes to the coach
Prescott didn't take credit for the faith environment seen this year on the Cowboys. He credited Brian Schottenheimer, the head coach, and the way he has opened up the topic. He said that's how the coach is, that's how he is and that's how many of his teammates are.
He also mentioned chaplains Jonathan and Dr. Evans, who help lead that cause. The goal, he said, is for it to spread: to understand that everyone is there for God and that they serve a purpose bigger than the result.
Winning isn't the answer
The previous week Dallas had lost. The goal Schottenheimer set then was to find a way to close out games. After this victory he pointed to the locker room: a group of young men who truly love each other, he said, and a brotherhood that is real. He called Prescott impeccable in the second half.
On how the team responds to results, Prescott put it this way: "We may not always have the answers, but we know what God wants us to do in our response" (Sígueme translation). And he described that response as giving your best, serving God and serving others with love.
Here it's worth pausing. Faith doesn't hand out victories. If triumph were the prize for those who believe better, the scoreboard would be a judgment on each player's soul, and it isn't. The result says nothing about your relationship with God. Your response to the result says a lot.
That a player talks about his faith in front of microphones doesn't make him a teacher or a model. What Prescott said is a public testimony and is received with joy; doctrine, on the other hand, is tested with Scripture.
The question that doesn't change
Prescott spoke about his life with more weight than the game. He said he has been through a lot, that God has always been the reason and the refuge he returns to, and that he can never thank Him enough. Win, lose or tie, the question he asks himself is the same: what is the purpose?
Paul wrote it this way: "…whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" (Philippians 4:12, ESV). Faith that depends on the score breaks at the first loss; the one that rests in Christ endures both.
This week you have an exam, a game, a deadline or a difficult conversation. Before it starts, decide what you will do with your faith if the result goes wrong; the test isn't in the final score, but in how you treat the person next to you when you're losing. How does your faith show when you lose?
