It was back in March, not long before the 2016 NFL Draft, it appeared Dak Prescott was about to blow it.
He'd had too much to drink but got behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade, anyway. The mug shot was followed by one of those rote, knee-jerk apologies roundly dismissed in this very space.
Today, as Prescott prepares to open the season as the Dallas Cowboys' starting quarterback, it would be disingenuous to turn a blind eye to the potentially dangerous decision made that night in Starkville, Miss.
But with eyes wide open, Prescott has since offered every reason for us to train our vision on the long view, too.