Let’s be honest.
Micah Parsons was never going to be a member of the Dallas Cowboys.
The team’s focus going into the NFL Draft last spring was to draft a cornerback with the 10th overall pick.
Spanning six decades of Cowboys football, the 2020 defensive unit was among the worst. Of their many deficiencies, cornerback was their biggest weakness and so shoring up that position, team executives felt, was the best place to start the turnaround process.
But when Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II were snapped up with the eighth and ninth picks,, the Cowboys shifted back two spots to the No. 12 spot and took Parsons, the difference-making linebacker from Penn State.
And the team hasn’t looked back since.
The Cowboys couldn’t be happier as they hone in on preparations for Thursday’s season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Cowboys knew Parsons was talented, but he has proven to be better than they could have imagined, prompting defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to design a scheme where the versatile, do-it-all Parsons is the key component on the field.
Most importantly, he embraces the expectations.
“Being a versatile player makes it a challenge for anybody to stop it, for anybody to scheme up,” Parsons said. “You want to be kind of like a queen on the [chess] board. You don’t ever want to be a rook, where you can only go straight, or you can only go sideways. You want to be able to go diagonal, and I think that’s what makes the queen so strong. And I just kind of want to be the queen of linebackers … but a king, in a way.”
The boy King — who was 10 months old, just six weeks shy of his first birthday, when the Buccaneers ageless quarterback Tom Brady got drafted into the NFL on April 16, 2000 — is ready for his debut against the seven-time Super Bowl champion.
“That’s actually pretty crazy, but you just got to give credit to him” he said. “The fact that he’s able to stay in this league this long and be so dominant.
“So he’s one of the greatest to ever do it, so I really look up to a guy like Tom Brady because I want to have as long a career as he has. It’s pretty awesome honestly.”
And it will be Parsons’ first meaningful game in roughly 20 months, dating back to Dec. 28, 2019, the final game of sophomore season at Penn State. He was a COVID-10 opt out in 2020 before entering the 2021 NFL Draft.
“I am super excited. It’s going to be my first full game in two years,” Parsons said. “It gives me a chance to go out there, maybe make a mistake but keep going and go next play, next play and not let anything get the best of me. And just play my best, really. It will be exciting to finally get my first full game under my belt.”
The Cowboys are doing their best to get Parsons ready.
As the king chess piece of the defense, he meets daily with Quinn to go over his assignments for all the packages the Cowboys have him in.
“I think he has absorbed it very well,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “To play three positions, at a young age, I think he’s adjusted very nicely. Actually, Dan and Micah have a one-on-one meeting during the game plan segment of it, so it’s kind of like the quarterback meeting because he does have to do it in two different rooms. I think he has handled it very well just as far as going through installs for practice, he can see it and go get it. Obviously, that’s his best trait.”
Said Parsons: “You kind of want this. That just puts a belief in me and in my abilities. I want to do everything in my power and my ability to prove them right. You should trust me and you should put me in this position to make plays for you guys.”
The Cowboys are all in on putting Parsons in a position to make plays because of his humble-but-confident attitude and freakish athleticism.
Parsons is like a sponge in team meetings, soaking up information from the veteran linebackers. Jaylon Smith said he doesn’t make the same mistake twice.
He is an intense competitor who likes to win in everything he does, including chess, Connect 4, bowling or daily drills in practice.
And he is a nonstop trash talker.
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence says Parson’s presence is everything.
“He brings a lot of juice,” Lawrence said. “He’s always talking [trash]. I love little Micah.”
He is also relatable.
Parsons has made a point to connect with his teammates to let them know they are all brothers and they are in this together, he said.
From Smith to fellow rookie linebacker Jabril Cox to veteran linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, Parsons’ bonding exercises have ranged from fashion to rookie experiences to guns.
“I had to ease Leighton up, you know what I mean? We just went to the gun range,” Parsons said. “I got into his country things. I’m planning on going out to Idaho with him next year. We had a pretty awesome time, bringing some food, we shot some pretty cool guns and things like that, things I’ve never done before, so it’s pretty awesome. You just have to find a common ground, be open minded and really just find something that everyone likes to do and enjoy it.”
Parsons has made his biggest impression on his teammates in practice where he awes them daily with his speed and athleticism.
Asked if Parsons reminded him of any other NFL player, cornerback Maurice Canady was stumped.
“I can’t say he reminds me of anybody because I never met somebody that is 250 [pounds] and can run a 4.3 [seconds time in the 40-yard dash]. Have you? It’s definitely amazing to see,” Canady said. “How he moves, yes, surprised me a lot. Literally his movement is like a DB, but he’s a linebacker.”
And for that reason Quinn is admittedly like a mad scientist staying up late at night to find ways to use Parsons.
He will be everywhere and all over the field for the Cowboys defense.
“I like to go after the quarterback,” Parsons said. “I like to make big plays. But at the same time, I like to be in coverage because you could get a big payoff: a pick or you could strip the wide receiver. You can always find a way to disrupt the game, no matter which one it is. So I kind of like doing it all.”
Check mate.