DALLAS — When a barbecue competition comes to Dallas, you could just get anyone to serve as a judge.
Or you could get the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.
Or how about two of them?
Dak Prescott joined Troy Aikman and Aikman's broadcast partner, Joe Buck, as celebrity judges for the United States of Barbecue event in Deep Ellum.
Dallas staples Pecan Lodge and Smokey John's were squaring off in the contest, which was being featured on Good Morning America.
And the best part for us? WFAA sports anchor Joe Trahan was also brought on board as a judge.
Joe visited with Prescott before the competition got going, and he wasn't lacking confidence as a judge.
"I definitely know good cooking," Prescott said. "Being from Louisiana, my Louisiana roots, my grandparents, just having the food background in my history, I'm excited to be here."
Granted, Prescott might have been shaking out the cobwebs Monday morning. He woke up around 4 a.m., a couple hours earlier than normal, to get down to Deep Ellum for the morning-show event.
"But who doesn't want to wake up with some barbecue?" Prescott told Joe.
Prescott had one main requirement heading into the judging: How does it taste without sauce?
"I feel like a lot of people's barbecue, pour the sauce on there and that masks how it's cooked," Prescott said. "I feel like good meat doesn't need the sauce. I'm excited today to see who doesn't need the sauce."
And don't worry, Cowboy fans. Prescott wasn't planning to indulge too much. He still had his offseason workouts on the schedule Monday, as the Cowboys are trying to bounce back from a first-round playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
And he made another thing clear: Pecan Lodge and Smokey Johns might be good barbecue, but they wouldn't be the best he's ever had.
"It was definitely grandma's," Prescott said. "Pecan Lodge, Smokey John's -- all love them. All the great barbecue here in Texas. But my grandma, she wins."