Micah Parsons on why ‘lions stay hungry’ and the Dallas Cowboys ‘aren’t alligators’
Dallas Cowboys rookie linebacker Micah Parsons has a thing for animal analogies.
It’s a reccurring theme on his social media accounts. One of his regular messages on Twitter is “the lion is always hungry.” It goes well with the former Penn State Nittany Lion’s Humble Beast brand of merchandise, that became available last month.
After Sunday’s 56-14 thrashing of the Washington Football Team — a game that included Parsons upping his NFL-leading rookie sack total to 13 — he added yet another animal metaphor to the mix.
“We’re just showing that we’re staying hungry and that we’re not alligators who get paralyzed after we eat,” Parsons said when asked if the blowout win was a response to show that the team was not just satisfied with a division title. (The Cowboys clinched the NFC East title earlier in the day when a strength-of-victory tiebreaker gave them the division crown.)
Why the fascination with the animal kingdom?
“I listen to a lot of motivational videos,” he said. “I really like animals.”
Parsons’ sack was one of five the team recorded on the night and he personally also had two quarterback hurries.
“It’s nice when you can just be a force out there,” he said. “Obviously, [the quarterback] wants to get the ball off a lot quicker. He’s not taking his reads all the way because he’s scared of the pressure and taking hits like that. It all factors in. I think we’ve been so slept on for so long that people are finally starting to see what we are capable of.”
The Cowboys (11-4), who are currently the No. 2 playoff seed behind the Packers (12-3), host the one-time NFC-frontrunning Cardinals (10-5) at 3:25 p.m. Sunday. It was originally scheduled for a noon kick but moved to a later time for a larger audience on FOX.
Like most Cowboys’ games, it’s likely to be a TV ratings winner. Parsons enjoys the prime-time audience such as “Sunday Night Football” against Washington.
“Yeah, because we are the show,” he said. “We’re the Dallas Cowboys.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
