Ex-Cowboys star reveals who settled locker room decision on Dak Prescott vs Tony Romo

The Dallas Cowboys drafted quarterback Dak Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft and didn't know he'd be their starter as a rookie.

Dallas intended to draft a signal-caller, but after failing to land a guy it wanted early on, the team selected Prescott, a Mississippi State alum, in the mid-rounds.

Following an impressive preseason, Prescott was named the team's starter after QB1 Tony Romo suffered a vertebral compression fracture in its Week 3 game. However, when Dak Prescott began performing like a veteran as a rookie, the team decided to make him its full-time starter even when Romo returned and was healthy.

Former Cowboys safety Barry Church revealed on an episode of "Fanatics View" that tight end Jason Witten told Romo that the team needed to stick with the hot gun in Prescott.

"It was like any time Romo went down, we knew it was up, that's the game, it's over with ...," Church said. "So when Romo goes down in the preseason, I think we lost the first one, to be honest with you, I think we lost that one, but then we went on a run like six or seven straight, and I knew there was like there's no way we can go back to Romo.

"Around Christmas time, and Romo was like on his way, and we waited, and Witten of all caps, they were best friends in and out the locker room, still to this day, but when Witten said, 'No, this is Dak's go, this is Dak's squad, we gotta ride with this man,' and that was that."

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Tony Romo retired following the 2016 season as Dak Prescott took over as the team's quarterback

Dak Prescott during Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders

Following the 2016 season, Tony Romo retired from the NFL after 14 seasons. This opened the door for Dak Prescott to become the Cowboys' full-time starter.

After taking over and heading into the 2017 season as the QB1, Prescott would lead Dallas to the playoffs every year of his career except for 2017 and 2019.

He has a regular season career record of 73-41 and is 2-4 in the postseason.

While he's been successful and is a top-10 quarterback almost every year since being a starter, Dak Prescott has failed to lead the Cowboys to a conference championship or Super Bowl. He has the chance to lead Dallas to the postseason this season, and their journey will continue on Sunday as they host the Green Bay Packers.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Barry Church, "Fanatics View" and H/T Sportskeeda.