FRISCO, Texas — Micah Parsons is the kind of football player that would make Adam Sandler proud.
"I’m like a ballhawk," Parsons said Friday at his introductory press conference. "See ball, get ball. Waterboy type.”
The newest Dallas Cowboys linebacker had several entertaining moments in his half-hour press conference, as he was asked about the craziness of his last 24 hours.
“Just think if you were 21 years old and you just met Jerry Jones," Parsons said to a laugh. "It’s pretty freaking awesome, I'll say.”
Parsons is a 6'3, 246 pound linebacker with blazing speed, and the ability to play in multiple roles within the Cowboys Dan Quinn-led defense. He's not the cornerback that many Cowboys fans, and many within the Dallas front office, coveted. But he's a player that can make a big impact on a Dallas run defense that was horrid in 2020.
Parsons opted out of the 2020 season at Penn State, so he hasn't played since the 2019 Cotton Bowl, when Penn State beat Memphis 53-39.
"I’m more in shape," Parsons said of how he's changed since then. "I’m moving better on the field and working a lot on my footwork, so once I get here, I look to show that I’ve been doing a lot better in space.”
But how will the Cowboys utilize Parsons? With Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch already on the roster, and seemingly ensconced in starting roles at the two primary linebacker positions, Dallas will need to get creative, to justify the value they have sunk into their linebacking corps.
"[Dan Quinn said he] was going to send me on a lot of blitzes and have me man a lot of backs and tight ends," Parsons said, explaining how he expected to be utilized, based on conversations with the Dallas coaching staff. "I’m going to match up well with a bunch of good running backs in our division. I’m excited to do that for [Quinn] and compete at a high level.”
Parsons brought his entire family with him to Frisco. Both his parents, his siblings, and his son Malcolm, who will turn three years old tomorrow. Parsons entire family have been Cowboys fans for years, and were in awe as they walked into the atrium at The Star.
“It’s awesome," Parsons said. "We’ve all just really taken it in. I don’t think any of us have sat down and was like, ‘this is crazy’. I don’t think we really ever talked about it yet. But I can tell by my dad’s facial expressions, and my mom’s expressions. It’s pretty priceless, I would say. To be here and play for Jerry and play for Coach Mike–it’s going to be an extraordinary honor for all of us. We’re happy to be here."
Little Malcolm stole the show, walking into The Star with the family, and smiling into a sea of cameras. He ran around the facility so much that he eventually fell asleep during the press conference.
During the final few moments of the press conference, as Micah and his family took pictures with the Jones family, Malcolm was passed to Micah, so he could hold his sleeping son. That's when Jerry seized the moment, and asked for Malcolm to be passed to him, so he could hold the most adorable new member of Cowboys Nation, as they posed for pictures.
Jones said at the start of Friday's press conference, that having the Parsons down to Frisco "was all conditional upon if we could get this thing done, get [Micah and his family] back" to Harrisburg, so they can celebrate Malcolm's birthday this weekend.
