Micah Parsons hasn't made himself available to the media since his Week 5 postgame appearance. That was after the Dallas Cowboys' loss to the San Franciso 49ers which quarterback Dak Prescott described as possibly “the most humbling game [he'd] ever been a part of.”
THE EDGE WITH MICAH PARSONS
On Monday, when the All-Pro linebacker addressed the audience of his video podcast, The Edge, he explained why he'd decided to stay away from the cameras and microphones during Week 6.
“I'm just calling out the BS,” Parsons said, “because I'm tired of people trashing my quarterback. I'm tired of people trashing my team. And that's why I had nothing to say to the media this week. I just wanted to say, if you wanna hear me talk, come hear me talk on The Edge Monday night. And that's just what its gon' be.”
Parsons's explanation was received by some media members as instigation. A handful of talking heads on mainstream sports talk shows used their platforms to address Micah directly.
Now, in order to understand his response, a couple of things must be accepted as true about Micah Parsons.
- Refusing to make himself available to the media is a completely different action than taking public attacks lying down.
- Micah Parsons has shown that he prefers to make statements and address the public via his own accounts and platforms when possible.
I point these things out, because some people seemed confused by the fact that Parsons responded to critics even though he said he was refusing to talk to the media.
If Micah's actions seem contradictory, I recommend looking at it differently. Don't think of it as him not wanting to speak to the media or public. This is more about his desire to determine the when, where, what, and how.
This isn't the first time Micah Parsons's social media posts have made headlines. He's aware of the eyes that are on his feed.
MICAH PARSONS CLAPS BACK
What started with a six-minute segment on The Edge on Monday night gave way to nationally broadcasted responses on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And those responses earned a series of social media posts from Micah Parsons himself.
One of the most addressed statements from Micah's podcast was when he said, “We want the same energy for everybody, because there's a whole bunch of bashing when it's Dak Prescott, but [it's] not the same when it's the Eagles.”
On ESPN's Get Up, Kimberley A. Martin responded to that statement by claiming that since the Cowboys' haven't recently been to a Super Bowl, they are rightfully judged more harshly than teams that have recently been to a Super Bowl.
Lol I watched Patrick mahomes win Super Bowl mvp?What criteria do you you analyst use ? @mspears96 like since when in our era did we say holy shit your in second place you are the greatest ! There's only one champion ! Who's next? https://t.co/XaZu09iFi8
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) October 18, 2023
Parsons's response made it clear that he thought this criteria was a ridiculous standard for determining the severity of criticism towards an NFL team.
Next up was Emmanuel Acho of FS1's Speak. He said that Micah Parsons isn't that much better than several other defensive players who don't receive as much attention.
Btw!! I talk about Myles's garret! I talk about tj watt and many other players you analyst feel you don't need to talk about!! Yall just feel like you need to talk about the cowboys all day ! I'll continue to do your job for you dawg! https://t.co/CzbN9N70oa
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) October 18, 2023
In response to Acho, Micah pointed out that on his podcast, he discusses players like T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett. Then he added, “I'll continue to do your job for you dawg!”
THE PROBLEM WITH ARGUMENTS LIKE ACHO'S
Micah Parsons didn't go far enough in addressing Emmanuel Acho's statement, so I'm taking this moment to pause the retelling of this sports drama, address Emmanuel Acho directly, and point out my three main issues with that post.
FORMER COWBOYS
Listing notable former Cowboys who have made names for themselves in sports media does nothing to support any other points made.
Is this to say current Dallas Cowboys players deserve unfair levels of criticism because several former players found success in the booth? That doesn't make sense.
Is this to say that success in broadcasting for former players equates to praise of current Dallas Cowboys players? That doesn't make sense, either.
You said that these were examples from your industry, but Micah Parsons is talking about his. So, please, make that part of the argument make sense, Acho.
comparison OTHER NFL PLAYERS
The question of whether or not Micah Parsons is better than T.J. Watt or Myles Garrett was presented in a way manipulates stats to support a narrative, but they do not tell the whole story.
Micah Parsons said months ago that he's “off the sack wave,” and that he's now “on the impact wave.”
So don't just pose the question, post a slick graphic, and move on. Answer the whole question. Break down the impact of each of these players.
If you're going to start the conversation, have the conversation.
THE NARRATIVE
“However, we don't talk about Myles Garrett. However, we don't talk about T.J. Watt.”
Ok, so talk about them. If you're not allowed to for whatever reason, perhaps that's the issue that should be addressed.
Micah Parsons and his performances are not restricting you from talking about other players.
This is especially true considering the fact that you, Emmanuel Acho, are known for posting videos directly to social media, away from any other show or production. You can literally talk about whatever you want.
If you'd rather talk about Micah Parsons than those other players, that's a decision you made.
All that being said, let's move on to the most recent, and possibly the main, event.
STEPHEN A. SMITH DOUBLES DOWN
In a since deleted post, Micah Parsons addressed the Worldwide Leader in Sports as an entity.
The post read, “I honestly feel bad for people who listen to this bulls*** ! I seen Twitter scammers [publish] better [content] than these ESPN [analysts].
At this point, you might be wondering how the Dallas Cowboys organization feels about all of this.
Well, Cowboys social media posted a video clip of Micah Parsons's criticism of mainstream media.
The timing of their post, in the midst of Micah's rebuttals against well known media personalities, made it seem as though the were posting in support of one of their best defensive players.
And so, as the kids say, it was up.
It's quite possibly that deleted post in particular, combined with his Micah's decision to respond to Kimberley A. Martin, that elicited a response from Stephen A. Smith. every other panelist on Thursday morning's episode of ESPN's First Take joined the conversation as well.
A clip of that segment is below. Feel free to click on it to read my entire social media response to that part of the show.
So, the folks on First Take responded to Micah Parsons today, and they said a few things I need to address.
I'd love to keep this brief, but that's difficult when addressing several different people.I'm gonna start with @MollyQerim (4:59), because she made the most sense out… pic.twitter.com/C1TF6bT5V9
— Bitches Love Sports Podcast (@BtchesLuvSports) October 19, 2023
STEPHEN A. SMITH VS. MOLLY QERIM
In so many words, Stephen A. Smith told Micah Parsons and the rest of his viewers that neither he nor other like-minded media members would be “keeping the same energy” when criticizing NFL teams.
“You can't play for the Dallas Cowboys,” Stephen A began, “the $9 billion franchise, the $1 billion playpen, the owner that's more popular than 99% of the players, you getting more national pub than anything…”
His sentence began as though the things he mentioned were justification for harsher criticism, but Smith switched gears to a different question before completing the thought.
“As great as Micah Parsons is,” he said, “how far off is Fred Warner from him?”
Every person on the set supported Stephen A. Smith and seemed to agree. Everyone except for Molly Qerim who pointed out that Micah Parsons was correct in his assessment of the media.
“We don't bring the same energy when the Eagles lose to the Jets as we would with the Cowboys,” Qerim retorted, “but the expectations are supposed to be even higher for Philly. He's just pointing out a hypocrisy.”
The other panelists talked over Molly until they all eventually decided to end the conversation.
THE PROBLEM WITH ARGUMENTS LIKE STEPHEN A.'S
Stephen A. Smith and his cohorts are not the only ones who believe Micah Parsons's efforts are futile.
In an article written for The Athletic, Saad Yousuf ends his piece by saying, “Credit to Parsons: He does keep ‘the same energy.' But as long as he plays with a star on his helmet, he should be prepared, for better or worse, to experience the opposite from others.”
And that statement sums up all the ways so many people are missing the point.
Micah Parsons already does expect the opposite from others. He's simply calling them to be better.
The fact that something is currently the accepted standard, for Parsons, is not a good reason for it to continue to be the status quo.
THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS
Almost every person arguing against Micah's plea to the media and against the defense of his quarterback simply argued that that's the way it is. It is the nature of the business.
They want him to get over it.
Micah Parsons, along with a large portion of Cowboys Nation, is pointing out that “the nature of the business” is not an acceptable excuse, especially coming from people who have the power to control the nature of the business.
It's not a good reason to criticize some more harshly than others. It's not a good reason to hurt players' reputations on purpose.
It's not a reason to manipulate lists and graphics to call into question the skills of players who perform at high levels in reality.
It's not a good reason to constantly move the goalposts and reinforce a negative narrative about an entire team that is dealing with just as much adversity as higher-ranked teams that have their losses justified and glossed over.
But if nothing else, after all of this, every fan should be aware of where the biggest names in sports stand on this issue.
There is no need to plead or argue. They feel justified in their criticism. They are not going to “keep that same energy.”
When it comes to energy, it just might be up to us as fans to simply monitor where we put ours.
