Dak Prescott discussed the death of his late brother Jace during an interview that was published on Wednesday.
Dak and oldest brother Tad both spoke with Graham Bensinger about the April 24 death of Jace, who was the middle of the three brothers. Though Jace’s death at the age of 31 is listed as an active investigation by the Pinehurst Police Department, the brothers said Jace shot himself in the head.
Dak’s story of how he learned the news is surprising. The quarterback admits he was battling anxiety and depression during the early parts of the coronavirus quarantine and was having trouble sleeping. The day his father called to tell him the terrible news, Dak missed the calls because he was sleeping. He said the night of sleep he had was his best in years.
When he did learn the news, he was emotional.
“I mean, obviously tears and tears and tears,” Dak Prescott told Bensinger. “I mean, I sat there and tried to gather what had happened, and wanted to ask why for so many reasons … and as much as you want to ask why as much as this, I mean, I know my brother, and as we said, he had a lot of burdens on him.”
Dak says that Jace was their mother’s main caretaker when she battled colon cancer before dying in 2013. Dak believes Jace carried a huge burden from taking care of their mother.
Tad says that when he heard the news that Jace shot himself, he figured it was accidental. He couldn’t believe it hearing that Jace shot himself in the head.
Tad has experienced grief and felt like he didn’t do enough to prevent Jace’s death.
“For him to be in so much pain. Me not to recognize it … I had seen him three days before it happened, and everything seemed fine.”
In addition to the death of their brother, Dak and Tad have dealt with the frustration of the quarterback’s contract situation. Even Tad has called out the Cowboys about it.
