One of the most important bonds on a football team is the one between a quarterback and his teammates. You need good quarterback play to win in the NFL; you need good leadership, too. When you can get both from the same guy, that's always a plus.


Being that they're 11-1 and that their rookie quarterback -- Dak Prescott, in case you've been living under a rock -- ranks fifth in completion percentage, second in yards per attempt, second in touchdown-to-interception ratio, third in passer rating, and first in both QBR and DVOA, it's safe to say the Cowboys have gotten good quarterback play. And if you ask the members of the Cowboys, they'll tell you they've gotten excellent leadership from the position as well.

Prescott didn't become the team's true leader until he took the mantle of starting quarterback when Tony Romo went down, but he apparently got to work very quickly creating an important bond with one of the team's best players: Dez Bryant.

Dak got Dez on his side early in camp. According to Dan Pompei of Bleacher Report, Bryant failed to get down after a catch as instructed by the rookie during the two-minute drill in order to clock the ball and set up a field goal. How did Dak respond?

"You are the baddest man on the field, the best player on the team," [Prescott] told [Bryant]. "But you have to listen to me. I told you that you had to get down. Look what just happened. We have the best kicker in the league."

Bryant listened intently, then looked him in the eye. Instead of shoving the rookie and storming off, he said, "I got you, man. It won't happen again."

That seems like a small thing, but when you're a rookie quarterback trying to create a relationship with a two-time Pro Bowler that doubles as one of the best and most imposing players at his position, every little thing counts.

The pair's relationship grew from there, and it was cemented months later, when the Cowboys were about to take on the Steelers. The night before the game, Bryant learned that his father had passed away. While questioning whether he'd be able to play, he got a text message from Prescott.

The text, which he saved, read:

"Dez I heard about your loss. I want to let you know I've been through it. First and foremost, I want to let you know nobody, I mean nobody, can tell you how you are supposed to feel. There aren't any words to comfort someone except he is in a better place than this world and there is not anything to say to make you feel better right now. Please know I'm here for you brother. I love you man and anytime you want to talk about this or anything, my ears are open. I know I'm young, but I've been through damn near everything so I don't hesitate. Today is your day. This game is the only thing that gives me peace. That's why I'm so passionate about it, and I know you are the exact same way. Let's go have a day and honor your dad."

Bryant went out the day after receiving Prescott's text -- the day after learning his father had died -- and played one of his best games of the year. He finished with six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown, a 50-yarder on which Bryant beat press coverage down the left sideline.

And he gave credit to Dak:

"Usually for games I'm pumped, I'm amped, I have a million things running through my head," Bryant says. "That Pittsburgh game ... I never felt that way ever before. I was calm. I played my best football. I ran the best routes I ever ran with the Cowboys. A lot of credit goes to Dak."

It took a lot of strange things happening for Prescott to wind up in the position he's in now, as the budding star quarterback of America's team. But he put in the work early on, and he continued working on his relationships with his teammates throughout the season, and was there for one of the best of them in the toughest of times. That's about all you can ask for in a team leader.