Ezekiel Elliott has a rare opportunity to set himself up for life as a star running back for the Dallas Cowboys. This message is how Jason Garrett is trying to get through to his young player, who’s spent his first year getting into the kind of off-field trouble that can kill his endorsement value.
In his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column, Peter King of The MMQB shared what Garrett told him about his discussions with Elliott.
“I’ve had a number of talks with him,” Garrett said. “I’ve asked him, ‘What do you want to be?’ I’ve had him try to understand the potential paths he could go down, the opportunities he has, on and off the field. They’re off the charts. He’s an infectious, very likable, hard-working kid. My point to him is, ‘If you maximize your abilities, you might be able to make $200 million off the field, like LeBron [James]. Or you could make a million.’ I mean, say you’re AT&T, or you’re Pepsi. You’re looking for a spokesman for your product. What would you do right now? You’d probably say if you’re one of those companies, ‘Oh, we’ll go with Dak. Or we’ll go with Jordan Spieth.’ But that’s in his control.”
That Garrett mentions Dak Prescott is notable for a couple of reasons. First off, Prescott has been raking in some serious endorsement deals, thanks to his relatively squeaky clean image and amazing first year as the quarterback of America’s Team. Secondly, he’s Elliott’s teammate and a guy who’s been a bit critical of how Elliott spends his time.
One the one hand, we’re pretty sure many will roll their eyes at Garrett’s tactic here. After all, Elliott is a professional now, and professionals shouldn’t need to be reminded about things like image and financial consequences for their actions.
On the other hand, Elliott is still a 22-year-old who appears to need this type of guidance.
Recently, before he was accused by some of punching a guy in a Dallas area club, Elliott said he realized he needed to keep a lower profile. It appears that’s still a struggle for the young man. But hopefully he’s finally gotten the message as he awaits word from the NFL about possible league discipline.