Dak Prescott’s public outing as the true and unquestioned leader of the Dallas Cowboys came this week. But it wasn’t an improbable two-minute drive. It wasn’t a cartwheeling dive over a linebacker into the end zone. It wasn’t a pinpoint laser of a throw to a streaking receiver. It didn’t even happen on a football field. No, the quarterback of America’s Team delivered his strongest, most courageous moment yet in front of a microphone on a media conference call.

The 27-year-old quarterback spoke Thursday about the upcoming season opener against the Rams, his expectations regarding playing in front of an empty SoFi Stadium, and his teammates’ plans for expressing themselves during the pregame national anthem. But the bulk of Prescott’s comments were a response to the revelation that he had personally struggled during the spring with anxiety and depression, even before the tragic news of his older brother’s suicide in April.

Prescott demonstrated brilliantly, with every word he uttered, just how obviously and horribly wrong anyone was in trying to cast doubt on Prescott’s leadership qualities.

Men are commonly attacked for admitting to having the issues Prescott was shining light on. Claims Prescott’s admissions were “a sign of weakness” that undermined his leadership position as the quarterback of the NFL’s flagship franchise came out. It was argued that voicing a struggle with mental wellness is something a real leader would not do. It was suggested Prescott should have, in so many words, kept quiet and kept it inside.

Rub some dirt on it.

Walk it off.

Suck it up.

Get over it.

“No, I think that is a fake leader. Being a leader is about being genuine and being real,” Prescott explained to reporters. “If I wouldn’t have talked about those things to the people I did, I wouldn’t have realized my friends and a lot more people go through them and they are as common as they are. I don’t think for one second, leaders or not, I don’t care how big a person you are, if you are not mentally healthy and you are not thinking the right way, then you’re not going to be able to lead people the right way.

“Before I even lead, I have to make sure my mind is in the right place to do that and lead people to where they want to be. I think that is important: to be vulnerable, to be genuine, and to be transparent. That goes a long way when you are a leader and your voice is being heard by so many. And you can inspire.”

Prescott’s remarks came on World Suicide Prevention Day. Jace, Prescott’s eldest brother, took his own life in late April. Dak said that he was experiencing “emotions I never felt before” even prior to that due to the coronoavirus and resulting quarantine that so many were also dealing with.

“When you have thoughts that you’ve never had, I think that’s, more so than anything, a chance to realize it and recognize it, to be vulnerable about it. I talked to my family, talked to the people around me,” Prescott elaborated. “Some of them obviously had dealt with it before. Was able to have those conversations and then reach out further just to more people. I think being open about it and not holding those feelings in was one of the better things for me.”

Apart from working with Chad Bohling, the New York Yankees’ Director of Mental Conditioning (who consults with the Cowboys), Prescott also said he opened up to close friends as well as “a couple of teammates, ex-teammates, college teammates about the emotions that I was feeling at the time, and to hear about what they have and the feelings and emotions that they’ve had to deal with.”

He says those conversations have helped him be more forthcoming about his own mental wellness.

“The voices inside your head, I think, are way more important than what anybody else says. That’s why you have to block out the noise, because you don’t want to feed the negative thoughts that you just naturally have. You don’t want to give them any reason to continue or to progress. Obviously it’s very important to block out that noise, but it’s also important to give yourself a self-talk: to be real about things, but to always motivate yourself. A lot of you know that are always around me, I’m always trying to be optimistic and usually I am; that’s genuine. But it’s because I know my struggles and the things that I go through aren’t just for me, that everyone does it. So that’s what allows me to be open about it, to be vulnerable about it and try to help others. Because I know how important it is to be thinking the right way. Mental health leads to the health of everything else.”

It’s that kind of honest self-examination and openness that helped Prescott become the leader of the locker room back in his rookie year. He was pressed into emergency service as Tony Romo’s replacement in the huddle and showed plenty of promise in the pocket that season, but it was Prescott’s genuine connection with his teammates and unique leadership skills that made Romo expendable so quickly.

It takes watching just one Prescott press conference to see that he is cemented as the face of the most valuable franchise in sports. He has the “it factor” that makes other men want to follow him. It’s why he’s never missed a game in his Cowboys career. It’s why the players around him unfailingly speak of him in glowing and reverent tones.

And it’s a big part of why so many fans and pundits alike are mystified that the Dallas front office hasn’t already locked him up to a long-term contract. Forget about players; there aren’t a whole lot of men like Dak Prescott walking around out there.

It is an antiquated view that, as the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, Prescott shouldn’t speak of such things and instead be held to some higher standard of masculine bulletproof stoicism. But the truth is, Prescott just became a role model to countless millions of people who struggle with their own mental wellness- on any level- precisely because he is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys and he’s willing to speak of such things.

To question his toughness and leadership because he has been open and honest about having feelings that all humans experience- and doing so while in the brightest of spotlights and under the harshest of personal and family circumstances- is the epitome of absurdity. Even if it was just a carefully-scripted “hot take” designed to generate buzz and score some ratings.

Anyone who misunderstands the value in someone being as open and honest and Prescott needs to apologize immediately. Any outlet that allows their front men to spew those hateful and damaging statements needs to be held accountable. Dak Prescott does not need to apologize for his statements, rather, he is a hero for making them.