How the Dak Prescott pregame warmup dance became a viral sensation

Dak Prescott went viral during a Sunday Night Football between the Vikings and Cowboys for a, uh, dance he did during pregame warmups. Although it looks like one, what he’s doing isn’t actually a dance — the movement loosens up his hips to help his throwing motion. But it was still pretty hilarious to watch.

In case you live under a rock, you’ve probably seen it by now:

Since this incredible moment was captured by SNF’s cameras, the “dance” has taken on a life of its own, to say the least.

First, people set his moves to various songs, and there were some gems. This one, from my colleague Hector Diaz remains my absolute favorite:

There are so many more great ones on Twitter — just go ahead and search #DakDancesToAnything and go to town.

Then, other football players and athletes have been caught performing their own versions of the Dak dance.

Prescott’s teammate, Ezekiel Elliott, celebrated a touchdown against the Detroit Lions the week after the dance went viral:

“I had to pay a little homage to my guy,” Elliott said after the game. He added that Prescott thinks he’s “nice at it,” and that maybe he could try playing quarterback.

Cowboys receiver Randall Cobb also joined in on the fun before their Week 12 game against the Patriots:

Other NFL QBs have showed off similar pregame moves since, including Mason Rudolph, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jacoby Brissett.

Though none of them appeared to be imitating Prescott, the same can’t be said for 49ers rookie Nick Bosa:

Or for Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White, who celebrated Buffalo’s Thanksgiving Day win over Dallas on the sideline:

Even Charlotte Hornets point guard Devonte Graham got in on the dance while warming up before a home game against the Detroit Pistons:

It extends to college too. Minnesota Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan has a pregame ritual that looks Prescott-like:

He insists that the movement really does help your throwing motion as a quarterback.

“Letting your hips lead the throw instead of letting your arm, and leaning into your upper body, and you don’t get any hip rotation with the throw. I got really bad doing that last year,” Morgan said via the Star-Tribune. “If you go back and watch the film. It’s probably a 75 percent chance that you’re going to see a left-leg lockout and just totally lean out, and the ball’s going to nose-dive.”

Prescott learned the movement from Tom House, a former MLB pitcher who now specializes in biomechanics. Here’s more from The Athletic:

House had his first major football client, Drew Brees, doing this same drill almost two decades ago. Tom Brady and many other NFL quarterbacks have done it for close to a decade. House calls it Step and Torque.

“When you watch Dak doing it, the shoulder goes back while the hips go forward,” says House, a former major league pitcher. “He’s actually patterning the nervous system and training the muscles in movements that are specific to what he does when he throws with an elevated core temperature.

Now, fans anticipate it before every Cowboys game:

All jokes aside, the move seems to be working for Prescott — he currently leads the league in total passing yards and has a career high in yards per attempt. It might look funny, but Prescott is obviously doing something right with his warmup.