Former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons earns rookie Pro Bowl nod
Ahead of his sophomore season at Penn State, Micah Parsons balanced staying in the present with his aspirations for the future.
Then just 20 years old, the budding Nittany Lion star held off on describing his ultimate path in football. Saying he would “just keep it to” himself, Parsons had no trouble publicly setting team goals at the highest level, that of a national championship.
“I’m just that confident,” Parsons said. “The coaches might say you shouldn’t really say those things, but you got to speak it into existence. I believe that faithfully and fully.”
This week, Parsons’ approach to the game took another positive turn to that end.
Announced by the NFL on Wednesday evening, the rookie defender was named to the NFC Pro Bowl team. Second on the Dallas Cowboys in tackles with 76 through 14 games, the former Penn State product leads the team with 12 sacks and 17 TFL, has three passes defended, and three forced fumbles with three games remaining.
And earlier in the day, Parsons virtually spoke the honor into existence.
“It would be an extreme honor,” said Parsons. “It’s one of those things where it’s not an expectation; it’s something that you earn.”
Undoubtedly, Parsons has done as much in his first season playing in the NFL.
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Taking on a hybrid role as a linebacker and pass-rushing defensive end, the former Penn State standout is currently seventh in the league in sacks. So hot was Parsons last month, notching eight TFL, 6.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles, that he was named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month, becoming the first former Nittany Lion to do so in the process.
That, along with an NFL Week Eight NFC Player of the Week honor for his 11 tackle, 4 TFL performance in a 20-16 Sunday Night Football win at Minnesota, have all elevated Parsons’ profile into one of the biggest in the game from the very start of his career.
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A point of pride for James Franklin, the emerging success of Parsons is something the Penn State head coach has monitored throughout the season.
“It’s really cool,” Franklin said earlier this year of Parsons’ performance. “We want these guys to have an unbelievable academic experience while they’re here at Penn State. We want them to have a great athletic experience and achieve all their goals and dreams here at Penn State, both collectively and individually, as a team and as individuals. And then we want to put them in a position to go to the next level and continue to thrive and even sometimes take the next step.
“So to see guys that get there and not only are they physically prepared to do it, but they’re also mentally and emotionally prepared to do it, they know what to expect…. All these stories and all these examples, I’m super proud of it.”
Now under the charge of Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, the achievement is one Parsons can take pride in as well.
“They’re having Pro Bowl seasons. I mean, I think their numbers reflect that,” McCarthy told the Dallas Morning News both of Parsons and fellow standout defender, corner Trevon Diggs. “They’ve definitely been very impactful, and if I was coaching against them, they definitely would be on my profile tape and would have a target on them on the weekly. I think that represents the type of players that they both are.”
