Controversial commentator Skip Bayless criticized Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on Thursday for suffering from depression and speaking up about it.
"I have deep compassion for clinical depression, but when it comes to the quarterback of an NFL team ... it's the ultimate leadership position in sports," Bayless said on his Fox Sports show. "Because of all that, I don't have sympathy for him going public with, 'I got depressed.' "
Prescott opened up about his battle with depression Wednesday on the podcast "In Depth with Graham Bensinger."
"All throughout this quarantine and this offseason, I started experiencing emotions I've never felt before," Prescott told Bensinger. "Anxiety for the main one. And then, honestly, a couple of days before my brother passed, I would say I started experiencing depression. And to the point of I didn't want to work out anymore."
Prescott's brother Jace died by suicide April 24.
The quarterback spoke further about his depression and responded to Bayless' comments in interviews Thursday.
"I think being a leader is about being genuine and being real. If I wouldn't have talked about those things to the people I did, I wouldn't realize that I, my fiends and a lot more people go through them, and they are as common as they are," Prescott told reporters. "I think it's important to be vulnerable, to be genuine, to be transparent."
Former NFL players Damien Woody and Dez Bryant were among the many people who criticized Bayless.
