Micah Parsons has been one of the NFL‘s most dangerous defensive players since the Dallas Cowboys drafted him 12th overall in 2021. He had his worst statistical season in 2024 and played in 13 games (the fewest in one season in his career) due to an early-season high ankle sprain.
Like several great edge defenders, Parsons has been compared to NFL legend Lawrence Taylor in his young career, but the former New York Giant recently took a shot at the defensive star.
Lawrence Taylor Wants Micah Parsons To Focus on Football
Parsons has been elected to the Pro Bowl in each of his four NFL seasons and has been a consistent threat hauling in 12 or more sacks each campaign. He made first-team All-Pro and won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021, putting up 13 sacks and 84 total tackles.
The outside linebacker followed that up with another first-team All-Pro selection in 2022 totaling 13.5 sacks and 65 tackles. He finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting and solidified himself as one of the league’s best defenders.
Parsons created a podcast, “The Edge with Micah Parsons,” at the beginning of the 2023 regular season as an outlet to discuss the Cowboys and other NFL news and notes — and this is where Taylor took his shot.
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Taylor recently appeared on the OutKick sports show, “Maintaining with Tyrus,” and discussed when young defensive stars should be compared to himself.
The host, former professional wrestler Tyrus, believes current defensive greats shouldn’t be compared to Taylor until they’ve been out of the game for a couple of decades so their full impact can be discussed.
Taylor agreed and then took his shot, “He’s a great player. But guys, let’s do more. Let’s play more football and less podcasts.”
It’s tough to say if the podcast has limited Parsons’ on-field ability as he put up 14 and then 12 sacks, respectively, in the two seasons since he started the show. The defense of Taylor’s argument could be that Parsons wasn’t named first-team All-Pro either year, but that seems like a stretch.
Tyrus agreed with Taylor but backed Parsons responding, “It’s a different world now…you’re right, you should invest 100 in what you’re doing. But I also like laying tracks for life after football. I think, Micah in particular, he’ll [be] a… movie, action movie star… that brother’s got it.”
Taylor is arguably the best defensive player of all time, having been elected to 10 Pro Bowls and eight first-team All-Pro lists in his 13-year career. He won Defensive Player and Defensive Rookie of the Year in his first season and league MVP in 1986.
It’s a strong résumé that will be hard to match, but Taylor hasn’t found a consistent post-football outlet. He’s appeared on TV, in movies, and headlined Wrestlemania 11, but Parsons has started building for his life outside of football while still ascending as a player.
