In today’s day and age of social media, even if a message is pure, it can still be misconstrued. Such looks to be the case for Dallas Cowboys safety Malik Hooker and superstar teammate Micah Parsons after a clip of Hooker talking about Parsons’ podcasting career went viral.
Malik Hooker Gives Opinion, Micah Parsons Fires Back
Hooker joined former Cowboys and NFL legend Keyshawn Johnson on the latest episode of his All Facts No Brakes Podcast. Among many other things, the topic of Parsons and his podcast was brought up, and Hooker took the time to give his honest opinion on the situation.
"If the run game is terrible, and you're doing a podcast every week … what are you really caring about?" 😳
Cowboys safety Malik Hooker on Micah Parsons and his podcast 😮💨
(via @AllFactsPod) pic.twitter.com/vLudO81RBC
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) June 29, 2024
The clip above went viral, where you could see Hooker telling Johnson his opinion on keeping priorities straight and making sure if you got other things going on outside of football that your play on the field doesn’t reflect.
“If the run game is terrible, and you’re doing a podcast every week … what are you really caring about?” states Hooker.
Naturally, that soundbite took on a life of its own. And like many things in social media, the subject of matter caught wind of it, and Parsons quickly provided his opinion on it.
Malik Hooker: my advice is to make sure the team’s good and have that be the priority.
Micah: pic.twitter.com/ipajDedWPR
— Chris (@ChewinTheRagPod) June 28, 2024
In an X post that has now since been deleted, Parsons took to social media to voice his displeasure with the fact Hooker said what he said and suggests he should have reached out to him directly with any issues instead of doing so on a podcast.
“Just wish you said this to me but instead on some podcast!And you got my number family ! @Malikhooker24 and you my locker mate! So you coulda said this any day! And you do realize I shoot the podcast on our off day! I why ain’t we talking about everyone preparations and focus leading up to the game week? I mean I can point out a lot of other things but I’m just not!”
From there, Hooker took to Instagram to post an update, where it looks as if the situation has been handled off of the internet, and both parties look to be back to good now.
Malik Hooker's response. pic.twitter.com/BCJSpmR41z
— MartinTalkCowboys (@DAK_4_MVP) June 28, 2024
“And ima speak on this once, @_micahparsons11 is little bro no his podcast isn’t hurting nothing dont fall for bait he knows what I meant and knows me see yall in Oxnard.”
The bait Hooker is talking about is the full clip, which did not go viral, in which he says several times that he doesn’t have a problem with it. And he was speaking more in general terms about players and younger players like Parsons, specifically, having their priorities in order.
Here is the full segment (not just a snippet)of Malik Hooker speaking about Micah and the podcast from Keyshawn Johnson’s show.
Thoughts? #FullContext pic.twitter.com/3POPYRvGCq
— ✭ Your_Guy_Nix ✭ (@Your_Guy_Nix) June 28, 2024
“Honestly, man, and like this is me, I’m one of those guys; I’m not into that type of stuff; some guys it works for,” starts Hooker.
“You see the guys like Jason Kelce, guys like that who are successful with the podcast as well as performing on the field and having success with it, so I don’t have a problem with it…”
Ultimately, what could have been a big offseason story has seemingly got washed away with two teammates figuring out the root of the message and taking it offline. However, it serves as another reminder of the role social media plays in the new age of content.
Parsons’ Contract Situation
While it’s clear that Parsons doesn’t plan to stop podcasting off the field, on it, he’s still one of the most dominant pass rushers the NFL has today. As he enters Year 4, Parsons has seen his sack numbers increase every season, setting him up for what may be a record-breaking second contract.
However, when that will come is less clear, since the Cowboys are currently working through CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, which has almost put Parsons on the back burner as far as priorities go.
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In recent history, the Cowboys have been less aggressive in getting out in front of contracts with their stars. As a result, they’ve somehow been able to set the market or get more than they would have if handled proactively.
With Parsons set to break the bank in a historic way, it may be advantageous for Dallas to buck that trend, but there’s no indication at this time that they will.