Nash and Dak — Meeting a hero; fallen deputy’s son meets quarterback

Published 9:42 pm Monday, July 10, 2017

Meeting a favorite athlete is something most of us dream about, but rarely does it ever actually happen.

For 11-year-old Nash Durr, the son of the late William Durr, a Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty on May 27, his dream became a reality on Saturday.

And it came with a little help from William’s cousin, Brookhaven prosecuting attorney Joseph Durr.

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“This was set up a few weeks ago,” Meg Cook, Nash’s aunt said. “I was on my honeymoon and got a phone call from Joseph Durr, an attorney in Brookhaven. I immediately thought something was wrong, but he had told me that he got in touch with Prescott’s agent and set it up for Nash to meet with Dak.”

The Durr family loves Mississippi State football. For years, William and his wife Tressie had season tickets. Nash loved to watch his favorite player, Dak Prescott, play on Saturdays and now on Sundays with the Dallas Cowboys.

Friday night, the Durr family headed to Monroe, Louisiana. Nash’s grandmother, Debbie Durr, told him they were traveling to look at flowers.

“Nash had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. I think he just thought we were getting out of town for the weekend,” Cook said. “My mom, his nana, told him that we were going to a botanical garden to look at flowers. He was not impressed at all.”

On Saturday morning, the Durr’s made their way to the Justin Ellis Football Camp at Neville High School. Upon pulling up, a representative of Prescott’s camp came up and met them. He leaned over to tell Nash that he was going to meet Prescott.

Cook said Nash didn’t say anything at first, but once she repeated it, he jumped for joy.

“That’s the biggest smile I’ve seen on that child’s face in a long time,” she said. “Nash said that his life was complete on the way home. Not very many kids get to meet their favorite athlete during their prime.”

Tressie Durr had brought several cards of Prescott playing with MSU and the Cowboys that Nash had collected. Prescott signed each of them, along with Nash’s Cowboys hat that he was wearing.

Nash gave Prescott a bracelet with 22 stars on it, which represents his father’s badge number. Prescott told Nash that he would wear it and also told him that Nash was a much cooler name than Dak.

“I wish William could see this,” Cook said. “But we also know that William is the only reason that Nash is getting to do these things now and William would be so proud.”