All eyes will be on Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott this season — and for a few different reasons. Fans will be curious to see if he is fully recovered from the injury that ended his season early last year.
When the regular season starts, they will be interested in seeing whether he can live up to the expectations that come with a $40 million season salary. But for the immediate future, fans are going to be talking about something else Dak Prescott-related.
During a recent press conference, Prescott was asked whether he has taken the COVID-19 vaccine. Rather than say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ Prescott had this to say:
“I don’t necessarily think that’s exactly important. I think that’s HIPAA.”
HIPAA refers to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which prohibits health care providers from sharing your medical information without your consent. It has nothing to do with questions the media may ask a football player during a press conference.
Twitter, of course, had something to say about Prescott’s gaff. Most just pointed out that Prescott was wrong in referring to the reporter’s question as a HIPPA violation:
https://twitter.com/richeisen/status/1418675289857658881?s=20
Many others, of course, had jokes.
https://twitter.com/PabloTorre/status/1418686274110697473?s=20
https://twitter.com/JaneLytv/status/1418704684022472704?s=20
https://twitter.com/AsteadWesley/status/1418678944329576448?s=20
Prescott was likely taking a page out of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s book. When asked recently by a reporter whether she had been vaccinated, she replied with:
“Your first question is a violation of my HIPAA rights. You see, with HIPAA rights, we don’t have to reveal our medical records, and that also involves our vaccine records.”
As the team leader, any comments Prescott makes on anything are going to draw the media’s attention. While his comments do not actually mean anything, the general public will take them to mean one thing — Prescott is not vaccinated.
If he is, why not just say so? Why make an issue out of a simple question that people were expecting a simple answer to? If he is trying to make a point that his medical information is not for public consumption, well — he is not wrong.
But, is it a point worth making an issue of when he is supposed to be leading Dallas to the Super Bowl?
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would probably say no. When asked about his team being just 70 percent vaccinated, well below the 85 percent threshold the NFL has set, Jones had this to say:
“Out of our 90 players here, we have a handful that in my mind still have to commit to this, and a handful is five.”
Jones has since said that he expects more than 90 percent of the team will be vaccinated.
After just agreeing to pay Prescott $160 million over the next four years, it is probably safe to say Jones would like his quarterback to set the example.