GettyCowboys star Micah Parsons (left)

For some, especially the crusty veteran NFL vets who played before the ubiquity of the modern sports podcast, Cowboys star Micah Parsons does too much talking on subjects outside of his own team. Parsons has a popular podcast on Bleacher Report–“The Edge With Micah Parsons”–and uses it to comment on issues around the NFL.

That’s fine when his team is winning. But as the Cowboys have sunk deeper into the misery of the 2024 season, having Parsons discuss other teams’ issues has been a bad look.

So on Sunday, when Parsons stood in front of the Dallas media and thumbed his nose at the notion that the Cowboys front office might be OK with a down season in 2024 so that they can nab a high draft pick in 2025, Parsons finally did what the crusty vets wanted: Showed leadership on his own wayward team.

Cowboys ‘Don’t Plan on Tanking’

In case you missed it, here’s what Parsons said after the wild, 34-26 win over the Commanders:

“I’m not done yet. I don’t plan on tanking. The higher-ups are looking for a draft pick, hope that’s wrong. Because we got a lot of football left to play. If I—as long as I am part of this team, we are always going to fight. I am always going to give maximum effort. I owe it to these guys, I owe it to the fans that come out, I owe to the brothers in the locker room.

“So, you know, me not playing at my best, me not being here, I am hurting other people and their families. So this is deeper than just wins. This is, at one point, this is just about pride.”

Parsons said the goal was not just to win games, but to get to the playoffs–at 4-7, they’ve got a 1% chance of doing so–and show some dominance.

“It’s easy to play when we’re up,” Parsons said. “People call us front-runners. Now we are playing behind the eight-ball, let’s see how we can handle adversity and see how we can make a playoff run. We got a long way to go.”

Micah Parsons Showing Leadership Amid Adversity

Parsons’ message and leadership garnered considerable attention around the NFL, and on Monday morning’s edition of the ESPN show, “Get Up,” he got worthy praise.

As former NFL great linebacker Tedy Bruschi noted, it was refreshing to see Parsons discussing the Cowboys.

“His play is there, but for him to be commenting on his team, on the future of his team, not quarterbacks on other teams or other situations or anything like that–what we need to do to win next, I like that a lot,” Bruschi said.

Fellow former NFL great Damien Woody chimed in, too. “I was very critical, a lot of people were very critical of Micah and what he said. But I’ve got to give him credit. First of all, he played a heck of a game. Then to hear what he had to say in that moment, I think speaks to the true character of Micah Parsons.”

Next up for the Cowboys, of course, is a quick Thanksgiving turnaround. Fortunately, they play the Giants, which ranks among the most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL and should give Dallas a chance to capitalize on its Week 12 momentum.