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NFL honors best players at awards ceremony
HOUSTON, Texas -- Dak Prescott started as an afterthought and ended up as the Associated Press' Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Prescott became the first Cowboy to win the honor since Emmitt Smith in 1990, edging teammate Ezekiel Elliott, who finished second.
His first order of business during Saturday night's NFL Honors event was asking if he could share the award with Elliott, saying: "Do we have a knife so I can cut this in half?"
Prescott acknowledged the team's offensive line for allowing "both of these rookies to do what we did this whole season."
Prescott, accompanied by Elliott onstage, also thanked "the other 31 teams for passing up on me as much they did."
A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league voted on the awards. Prescott edged Elliott in rookie votes, 28½ to 21½.
The Cowboys settled on Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft, No. 135 overall, after they were unable to trade back into the first round to take Paxton Lynch or get Connor Cook earlier in the fourth round.
At the start of training camp, Prescott was the Cowboys' third quarterback behind Tony Romo and Kellen Moore.
Moore suffered a broken ankle on Aug. 2, and Romo suffered a compression fracture in his back on Aug. 25, giving Prescott the chance to start.
All he did was have one of the best seasons ever by a rookie quarterback. In addition to the 13 wins, which tied Ben Roethlisberger for the most in NFL history by a rookie quarterback, Prescott set team rookie records in yards (3,667), touchdowns (23), attempts (459), completions (311), passer rating (104.9) and completion percentage (67.8).
He helped direct the Cowboys to a franchise-record 11 consecutive wins, beating three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks -- Aaron Rodgers, Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco -- in the process.
As he returned to 100 percent health, Romo, the franchise leader in passing yards and touchdowns, conceded Prescott earned the right to continue as the Cowboys' starter. Prescott set a team record for a quarterback with six rushing touchdowns and opened his career with 176 consecutive passes without an interception, most in NFL history.
Elliott, selected a first-team All-Pro at running back, had an equally as compelling case for the award. He set team rookie records in rushing yards (1,631) and touchdowns (16) in helping the Cowboys to the best record in the NFC in 2016. Expectations for Elliott were astronomical once the Cowboys took him with the fourth overall pick, considering their offensive line boasted three All-Pros in Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin.
Elliott managed to exceed expectations, breaking Tony Dorsett's team rookie mark of 1,007 rushing yards in the Cowboys' 10th game. He had four consecutive games with at least 130 yards rushing and five for the season, tying Eric Dickerson and Mike Anderson for the most by a rookie in NFL history.
Elliott threatened Dickerson's rookie record of 1,808 yards but was held out of the meaningless season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles by the coaches. His 1,631 yards are third most in history by a rookie, trailing Dickerson and George Rogers, who had 1,674 for the New Orleans Saints in 1981.
Prescott became the first Cowboy to win the honor since Emmitt Smith in 1990, edging teammate Ezekiel Elliott, who finished second.
His first order of business during Saturday night's NFL Honors event was asking if he could share the award with Elliott, saying: "Do we have a knife so I can cut this in half?"
Prescott acknowledged the team's offensive line for allowing "both of these rookies to do what we did this whole season."
Prescott, accompanied by Elliott onstage, also thanked "the other 31 teams for passing up on me as much they did."
A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league voted on the awards. Prescott edged Elliott in rookie votes, 28½ to 21½.
The Cowboys settled on Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft, No. 135 overall, after they were unable to trade back into the first round to take Paxton Lynch or get Connor Cook earlier in the fourth round.
At the start of training camp, Prescott was the Cowboys' third quarterback behind Tony Romo and Kellen Moore.
Moore suffered a broken ankle on Aug. 2, and Romo suffered a compression fracture in his back on Aug. 25, giving Prescott the chance to start.
All he did was have one of the best seasons ever by a rookie quarterback. In addition to the 13 wins, which tied Ben Roethlisberger for the most in NFL history by a rookie quarterback, Prescott set team rookie records in yards (3,667), touchdowns (23), attempts (459), completions (311), passer rating (104.9) and completion percentage (67.8).
He helped direct the Cowboys to a franchise-record 11 consecutive wins, beating three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks -- Aaron Rodgers, Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco -- in the process.
As he returned to 100 percent health, Romo, the franchise leader in passing yards and touchdowns, conceded Prescott earned the right to continue as the Cowboys' starter. Prescott set a team record for a quarterback with six rushing touchdowns and opened his career with 176 consecutive passes without an interception, most in NFL history.
Elliott, selected a first-team All-Pro at running back, had an equally as compelling case for the award. He set team rookie records in rushing yards (1,631) and touchdowns (16) in helping the Cowboys to the best record in the NFC in 2016. Expectations for Elliott were astronomical once the Cowboys took him with the fourth overall pick, considering their offensive line boasted three All-Pros in Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin.
Elliott managed to exceed expectations, breaking Tony Dorsett's team rookie mark of 1,007 rushing yards in the Cowboys' 10th game. He had four consecutive games with at least 130 yards rushing and five for the season, tying Eric Dickerson and Mike Anderson for the most by a rookie in NFL history.
Elliott threatened Dickerson's rookie record of 1,808 yards but was held out of the meaningless season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles by the coaches. His 1,631 yards are third most in history by a rookie, trailing Dickerson and George Rogers, who had 1,674 for the New Orleans Saints in 1981.