FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys are the world's most valuable sports franchise, which means each on-field result gets amplified win or lose. Victories can feel like holidays at times and defeats can feel like the end of the world at times. Two-time All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons knows this better than most. He is one of the NFL's best pass-rushers with a quarterback pressure rate of 22%, the second-highest in the league among players with 100 or more pass rush snaps this season, and his 37 quarterback pressures are the third-most in the NFL.
Off the field, Parsons hosts a podcast on Bleacher Report, called "The Edge" in which he riffs on what's going on around the league. Following the Cowboys' 42-10 Week 5 faceplant on "Sunday Night Football" against the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas took it on the chin from all corners of the football world. After the 49ers suffered their second consecutive loss since that game, Parsons expressed his discontent with other NFC contenders like San Francisco not suffering the same amount of heat, in his eyes, as the Cowboys. Parsons disdainfully tweeted his disappointment in the lack of a "media frenzy" following San Francisco's 22-17 loss on "Monday Night Football" to the Minnesota Vikings, a team with a losing record (3-4). He even felt strongly enough to have a back-and-forth with retired NFL player and current Fox Sports analyst Emmanuel Acho about the contrasting coverage of the 49ers in comparison to the Cowboys.
I don’t see a media frenzy today! Mhmm
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) October 24, 2023
Parsons doesn't mind being criticized after not meeting expectations, but he would like other teams to feel the same heat. He may or may not end up getting his wish because no spotlight is as bright as the Dallas Cowboys' spotlight.
"I'm the face, I'm giving them their content," Parsons said Wednesday. "They're basically stealing my content and they're wrong. They're doing exactly what I said they're going to do. Whether we win or lose, they're going to have something to say. People think I'm shying from criticism. No, criticism is not the problem. Just criticize everyone with the same energy. They're just as big of bullies as these other guys. People decide who and when should get breaks. I wasn't raised like that. I treat everybody the same. I talk about everybody the same, give everyone the same benefit of the doubt. That's the type of real person that I stand on. A lot of these dudes aren't real."
Another element of NFL coverage the 24-year-old superstar would like to see change is reducing the amount of hyperbole when breaking down a player's faults. Parsons has made it a point throughout the 2023 season to defend opposing quarterbacks who have faced intense, pointed criticism this season in New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson and New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. His main issue is people not considering the humanity of the player they cover.
"At the end of the day, it's not about the player," Parsons said. "It's about the person. You don't know what that person is going through. I could come here and smile and give you guys a great speech about we could do this game and things like that. But in reality, y'all would have no idea what's going on at home or what's going on in my life if I didn't tell you. If Ig et on my podcast, if I get on TV and go 'XO, whatever quarterback is completely trash. He is shit. He don't deserve to be out there on the field. He's not a guy who should be in the NFL.' And this guy worked his whole life to get there, make his moment, get drafted, sustain. The hardest part is staying in the NFL, so he's still here. Somehow, this guy doesn't deserve to be on the field? What am I to do that? Who am I? I'm nobody. I'm one percent in a huge organization that, 10 years from now, if I'm [not] still here talking to you guys, there will be another Micah parsons or whatever that you guys are talking to. I'm just a small piece in this dynasty of this legacy that the NFL has built. Who are we to talk about people like that?
That's one thing that I really feel strongly about is that these guys come and do that, but you wouldn't like it if somebody came and talked to you like that. It's like growing up and getting picked last. If you were picked last, you're like 'Damn.' And they're like 'We don't want to play with you. You suck,' and you felt a type of way. It's almost the same thing, but now you're doing it publicly where millions of people see it. Now you're creating their opinion, their narrative, ... and people actually start to believe these people's opinions. It's a constant cycle of just bad media, bad people, of tarnishing people's names. I don't know if you guys the Dodgers baseball player [pitcher Trevor Bauer, who settled a civil suit alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in 2021 this month. He now plays in Japan after no MLB team picked him up after he was hit with lawsuits]. A lot of people said he was a predator. A lot of people were saying all these bad things about this guy because of these things that these people said about this man, and it turns out he was innocent. [Bauer still faces a lawsuit from a different woman who accused him of sexual assault] ... How people are getting thrown down in the media, I don't stand up for that."
However, if he feels like he and the Cowboys deserve critique based on empirical, on-field evidence, he is more than happy to face the music. His podcast airs on Monday nights and involves a live fan chat in which Parsons answers questions that are positive, neutral, negative and enraged.
"The podcast, especially some days after losses, I know I'm going to hear it in the chat, and obviously you don't want to hear that always," Parsons said. "But in the end, I feel like I got a job to do. I got to tell the people what they need to hear, what they want to hear, what they don't want to hear. That's the job. I know some days you're like 'I don't want to cover this.' If I played badly, you're like 'man I don't want to put this out', but this is the reality."
At the end of the day, Parsons wants his ever-growing platform to be one associated with uplifting others, not tearing younger players or fans down.
"Yeah, I always want to use my platform for good because at the end of the day, this game goes way far beyond us," Parsons said. "It's about the kid that is 5 years old, 10 years old, 15 years old that looks up to us and watches us. How I handle myself is how those guys will handle themselves. If I'm out there showing myself and they think it's ok, that's what they're going to do. These kids are imitating us. I know a million kids look up to Steve Smith. I know a million guys look up to, especially young broadcasters, look up to Stephen A. [Smith] and things like that. They look up to us when you're at the peak of your career, and people say 'how did you get there?' How are you acting? I think people forget that sometimes. I always think anytime you have a platform and a voice that people listen to you should always use it for good."
