How you feel about what Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Dak Prescott chose to do on Monday evening in Oxnard, where the team showed up to open 2026 training camp, probably says a lot about you as a person. If you approved and were enthused, then you’re almost certainly an optimist. If you’re concerned about jinxes and hexes and bad juju emanating off Prescott, you’re leaning pessimist.
But Prescott certainly made a choice to show up to training camp wearing a vintage Cowboys T-shirt commemorating the 1996 Super Bowl XXX game, which Dallas won, 27-17, over the Steelers. It’s not only the last time the Cowboys were champs, it is the last time they even appeared in the Super Bowl. That was even the last time the Cowboys went as far as the conference championship game.
It’s been a lengthy and ugly drought, and for Prescott to show up with the T-shirt recognizes that drought, and sends the message that he is ready to lead this team out of it.
Dak Prescott Has Struggled in Playoffs
Now, that is cause for some concern because Prescott, in his 11th season as the Cowboys’ starter, has not exactly slapped together the kind of postseason record that inspires confidence. He is 88-55-1 as a starter, and averages 258.9 yards per game passing and a 98.3 passer rating in those games. But in the playoffs, that changes. Prescott’s passer rating dips to 91.8, and the record is a scant 2-5.
So while Prescott’s willingness to push a Super Bowl-or-Bust mentality to start out training camp, his past struggles in the postseason are still lingering. The Cowboys have not even been a playoff team in the past two seasons, in part because Prescott suffered a torn hamstring in 2024, and because the defense was wretched in 2025.
Dak Prescott Has Reason for Cowboys Confidence
But there is confidence that this time around, things will be different. The Cowboys have brought back all the main players in an offense that ranked No. 2 in yardage and No. 7 in points last season, while overhauling a defense that was No. 32 in points allowed and No. 30 in yardage allowed.
New defensive coordinator Christian Parker is one of the hot young names among coaches these days, and the addition of as many as seven new starters to the lineup should allow the Cowboys to quickly move past last year’s defensive disaster as they seek to contend.
Cowboys ‘Ultimate Goal Is the Super Bowl’
Still, a Super Bowl T-shirt on the opening day of camp is putting the cart before the horse. The Cowboys still have holes on defense, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll get a repeat performance from the offense.
But the Cowboys, beyond Prescott, are not afraid to point to the Super Bowl as the end goal of this season, bad juju or not.
Star left guard Tyler Smith told reporters on Monday: “The ultimate goal is the Super Bowl. I mean, everything I have done my whole career, this offseason, ultimately, this training camp, will be to win a championship. That’s a huge thing for us, is legacy. I mean, if you hoist up that trophy, you live forever in our opinion. So, I think that’s what it is all about right now, and I think everyone is focused on that goal right now.”
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