Why Dallas Cowboys defensive star Micah Parsons said the national media were bullies
Micah Parsons spent much of the Dallas Cowboys bye week at home playing video games. He also took a trip home to Harrisburg, Pa., to watch his 5-year-old son play football.
Parsons also found himself in a battle with talking heads from ESPN and FOX Sports 1 because of his criticism on his own podcast on Bleacher Report about how the Cowboys are covered and talked about in comparison to other teams around the league.
During an episode of his “The Edge with Micah Parsons” podcast following the Cowboys 20-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, Parsons defending his team and quarterback Dak Prescott from national narratives and criticism.
“There’s a whole bunch of bashing when it’s Dak Prescott, but not the same when it’s for the Eagles,” Parsons said. “If y’all just want to hate Cowboys nation, just say y’all hate Cowboy nation,” he continued. “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.”
Parsons called out FS1’s Emmanuel Acho, who responded on social media and on his show.
ESPN’s First Take did an segment responding the Parsons.
Parsons talked to the local media for the first time in two weeks and said he was not surprised about how things went down last week.
He referred to the national media as bullies and they were not being real.
“Nah. I’m the face. I’m giving them their content,” Parsons said. “They’re basically stealing my content. They’re wrong. They’re doing exactly what I say they’re going to do. Whether we win or lose, they’re going to have something to say. Just criticize everyone with the same energy. They’re just as a big a bullies as these other guys. People decide who they want to give breaks to. 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 ain’t real.”
Parsons said his goal is not to defend the Cowboys against legitimate criticism. He just doesn’t believe you should throw “dirt on peoples names,” especially when its coming from former players.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about the players, it’s about the person,” Parsons said. “You don’t know what that person is going through. If I get on my podcast, if I get on TV and go ‘whatever quarterback is completely trash, he’s [expletive], he don’t deserve to be out there on the field, he’s not a guy that should be in the NFL’. This guy works his whole life to get there, make his moment, get drafted and sustain. The hardest part is staying in the NFL. He’s still here and somehow this guy don’t deserve to be on the field? Who am I to do 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 a constant cycle, just bad media, bad people of tarnishing peoples names. I don’t stand for that.”
Parsons said that is one reason why he tries to use his podcast for good. There are some days he doesn’t want to do it. But he knows he has a job to do and needs to tell people what they want and don’t want to hear after games.
“I always want to use my platform for good,” Parsons said. “Because at the end of the day, this game goes way far beyond than just, it’s about the kids that are 5 years old, 10 years old, 15, that look up to us and are watching us. How I handle myself is how those guys are going to handle themselves. So if I’m out there showing myself and they think it’s OK then that’s what they’re going to do. These kids are imitating us.
“They look up to us. When you’re at the peak of your career, people will say: ‘How did you get there? How are you acting?’ I think people forget that sometimes. Any time you got a platform or you got a voice that people listen to you should always use if for good.”
