THE PARSONS FILE
Freshman Consensus All-American, 2018
Cotton Bowl Defensive MVP, 2019
Butkus Award, 2021
First Team All-Pro, 2021
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, 2021
By Lenn Robbins
Call it maturation if you will, or call it a re-challenging of energy. Whichever you choose, fact, is fact: Micah Parsons has transitioned from getting into some minor trouble off the field to causing major trouble on it.
The Dallas linebacker turned in the best rookie season in franchise history and one of the best ever in NFL history in 2021. Parsons was a one-man wrecking crew with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn moving him to various positions, making it even harder to stop the 6-foot-3, 245-pound linebacker. That was only fitting since Parsons is a self-taught chess player.
Before his emergence as one of the great young linebackers to enter the league, Parsons was being suspended in high school for allegedly yelling, “Gun!” in a crowded cafeteria. And at Penn State, former linebacker Isaiah Humphries accused Penn State coach James Franklin of warning him not to talk to authorities about an alleged fight that involved Parsons.
No one was injured in the cafeteria incident. Penn State said Humphries’ allegations were baseless. He transferred to Cal.
By now, those missteps seem like nothing more than teen foolishness. Parsons didn’t get into any trouble at Penn State and his rookie season was trouble-free, unless you lined up against him. The rookie posted 84 tackles, 30 quarterback hits, 13 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and three passes defensed.
We feel it’s now time to issue a warning: Whenever Parsons leaves football, he’s thinking of becoming a pro bowler. Pity those poor pins.