Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons has made life difficult for Jets quarterback Zach Wilson and Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, but when the game is over, Parsons doesn’t like seeing the quarterbacks he conquered get criticized.
Parsons has called out people who he thinks are overly critical of struggling players, and this week he said he thinks people should show kindness to pro athletes.
“I just feel like so many times the media just always throws out negative things on certain players. It’s almost like bullying online. We’re just being social media bullies,” Parsons said. “You really hate to see that. It’s one thing if you say I’m garbage to my face on the field and we’re competing and we’re hammering it out and we’re in the moment. But it’s another thing when a guy can’t defend himself. You don’t know what’s going on in his room. You don’t know what’s going on in the team, and you’re just out there calling another man garbage on live TV. We see that in the draft where guys use these moments where this should be a special moment for a kid and bashing him for his past. I just feel like as humans and as people who have these platforms, we should just be better and more mindful of how we talk about people and how those things can impact someone. Because you never know what someone’s journey is. You never know what their story is. So I’m just calling out the social media bullies because we really shouldn’t be like that.”
There were reports prior to the 2021 NFL draft that some teams had character concerns about Parsons, and Parsons says that judgment stung.
“People need better perspective on how they talk about people,” Parsons said. “And how they treat people online.”