Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott Sought Help for Anxiety, Depression Following Brother's Suicide

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott sought help for anxiety and depression this past offseason, which was brought on by the death of his older brother, Jace and the COVID-19 pandemic. Jace died by suicide in April. Prescott talked about the process he went through in front of reporters this week.

"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," Prescott said as reported by ESPN. "Talked to my family, talked to the people around me simply as I did at the time. 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."

Prescott, who's getting ready for the Cowboys' season opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, also said he expressed his feelings to former and current teammates as well as close friends. He also spoke with Chad Boiling, a sports psychologist for with the New York Yankees. And when it comes to the pandemic, Prescott was impacted by it because of his personality.

"I'm a people person. I'm somebody that likes to be around people. I like to inspire. I like to put a smile on people's faces, day in and day out, and I like to lead," Prescott said. "When that's taken away from you simply because you're forced to quarantine and not be around people and get around people as much as you would like to, yeah, it's tough." Prescott was recently In Depth with Graham Bensinger and revealed the problems his brother was dealing with before his death.

"He had a lot of burdens on him," Prescott said while alongside his other brother Tad. "He had a lot of tough things, and my sense of saying that is it showed me how vulnerable we have to be as humans, how open we have to be. Our adversities, our struggles [and] what we go through is always gonna be too much for ourselves [and] maybe even one or two people, but never too much for a community or family you love. So you have to share those things."

If you or someone you know are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.