How Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott unknowingly ‘saved team executive’s life’
Dallas Cowboys exec Tad Carper has credited Dak Prescott with saving his life after revealing how the quarterback unknowingly helped him detect and defeat cancer.
Carper, who has served as the Cowboys’ Senior Vice President of Communications since 2022, had surgery in October of last year after being diagnosed with Stage 2 throat cancer just months earlier.
After the tumor was successfully removed, the 63-year-old underwent two months of radiation and is now in full remission, with doctors convinced there is a low risk of the cancer ever returning.
And incredibly, Carper has Prescott to thank for spotting it early.
The Dallas superstar, whose mother Peggy died from colon cancer at the age of 52 back in 2013, launched his ‘Faith. Fight. Finish.’ foundation four years after her passing to help fund cancer research amongst other inspiring initiatives.
It was at Prescott’s foundation gala in spring 2024 when then-Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy discovered more about early cancer screening and subsequently asked him about including it in his coaches’ annual physicals.
Dallas Cowboys exec Tad Carper (left) has credited Dak Prescott (right) with saving his life
Carper, who has served as the Cowboys’ Senior Vice President of Communications since 2022, underwent surgery last year after being diagnosed with throat cancer
‘We got into training camp and he said, “Hey let’s get all the coaches tested.” And I said “say less,”‘ Prescott recalled in an interview with ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry ahead of their Sunday night game against the Minnesota Vikings.
‘Obviously understanding what I’ve been through with losing my mum to cancer and understanding how important early screening is, it was a no brainer.’
After McCarthy went ahead and set up the cancer screenings, Prescott proceeded to invite Carper, who is often by the quarterback’s side in Dallas, to stop by one which had a few spots available. He could never have imagined how vital that invitation proved to be.
‘It’s 7am one morning, and what else am I doing? I said, “Sure, that’d be great. Thanks,’” Carper told Thiry. ‘I walked in, got tested. Super simple. Walked out and never thought about it again.’
That was until he received an unexpected phone call while at the Cowboys’ headquarters in Dallas roughly two weeks later to tell him he had tested positive for head or neck cancer.
‘The rest of the day after that call was a bit surreal. Everything slowed down,’ he admitted.
Carper conceded that he would ‘never have gotten screened’ had it not been for Prescott, who was on hand with some much-needed optimism after the diagnosis.
After letting the quarterback know that he had returned a positive test, the pair shared an emotional moment. ‘Before I could get another word out of my mouth, we hugged it out and his first response was, “We got it. I know we got it,”‘ Carper recounted.
‘I told him, “I think you just saved my life.”‘
Carper says doctors told him they would have been having ‘a much different conversation’ if it was even two months later.
‘God’s plan for me to come to Texas. God’s plan for me to work for the Cowboys with Dak Prescott leading to that moment. And that’s what happened,’ he claimed.
‘There’s a lot of elements involved in getting to that moment, and being in that place, and having that opportunity.’
When asked how much it means to have saved Carper’s life, Prescott said: ‘I don’t know if it’s something I could ever really put into words. I know how many people aren’t fortunate of that, [so] to just play a part in it is more than enough.’