USA Today sports writer Lorenzo Reyes apparently cannot write about a quarterback without injecting into the story racism and racial motivations where they do not really belong.

For his January 10 article on biracial Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Reyes found Prescott’s playing stats far less interesting than the fact that Dak is somehow amazingly able to be friendly with both the black players and the white ones on his team.

“Beasley is a 27-year-old white receiver from Houston. Gathers is 24 and from LaPlace, La., but black. The gift Prescott has is the ability to bond with both,” Reyes writes seemingly in shock.

“I grew up in Haughton, Louisiana,” Prescott told Reyes. “I go to my white grandparents’ house, and then I cross the railroad tracks and hang out with my black grandma. We have English teachers on my white side. My grandpa is a principal. And then you go to the other side and people have been in jail.”

Reyes goes on for hundreds of words and over a dozen paragraphs immersed in his amazement over Prescott’s apparently unusual ability to be nice to both blacks and whites. Reyes waxes poetic over how Prescott knows the words to rap songs yet can also sing the chorus of a country music tune, and marvels at Prescott’s ability to “get approval” from players of all races.

“Being bi-racial and being from the country, I can talk to guys like Travis Frederick from Wisconsin and Doug Free from Wisconsin,” Prescott says of two offensive linemen on the Cowboys. “And then I can go over and talk to Dez Bryant. I mean, think about the two different standpoints you need to have a real conversation with both, to really understand what they’ve been through. I don’t think many can do it. For me, it’s not hard. I’m blessed because it’s natural.”

After over a dozen paragraphs delving into the racial aspect of Prescott’s rise on the Cowboys, Reyes finally gets around to discussing his on-field activities and playing record.

“An outside contender for MVP, Prescott completed 67.8% of his passes for 3,667 yards, posted a 23:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and ran for 282 yards and six rushing scores,” Reyes belatedly notes. And from there Reyes gives a serviceable bio on Prescott’s football career.

But since it took up half of a very long review of the player’s career, clearly the sports writer found the racial aspect far more interesting than anything approaching actual sports news.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.