DALLAS — It was a special weekend for Dak Prescott as he returned to his alma mater and met the school's newest live mascot, which is named after the Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
Last month, Mississippi State's athletics program announced the continuation of a decades-long tradition and revealed its latest live bulldog mascot, Bully XXII aka Dak.
And this weekend, Prescott witnessed as Dak the bulldog took over the reins from the school's retiring mascot, Jak, who had been the face of the athletics program since 2015. The university has been using a live bulldog mascot since 1935.
The ceremony happened during halftime of Mississippi State's spring football game on Saturday, April 15.
Dak the bulldog was given the traditional mascot harness with Dak the quarterback in attendance.
"They've named the mascot after me, so I had to come back and see that... For the mascot of Mississippi State, of this university, to be named after me, it's humbling. It's something I hold very special me," Prescott said in a story on the Mississippi State athletics website.
Prescott played at Mississippi State from 2011 to 2015 and led the Bulldogs to three bowl games from 2013 to 2015, including the program's first ever No. 1 ranking in 2014. He would go on to be selected by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft and become the team's franchise quarterback.
Prescott was also honored this past NFL season with the 2022 Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his community work off the field through his Faith Fight Finish (FFF) Foundation.
