The Denver Broncos’ local broadcast would love to have Saturday’s game back.
Well, at least one particular segment.
When setting up to discuss Micah Parsons, the disgruntled Dallas Cowboys star, they didn’t do their homework. The broadcast got centel’d in real time, as they shared an obviously fake quote from Parsons from his The Edge podcast, which hasn’t shared a new episode since January.
“Everybody gave Sean Payton some grief for saying he wants to win a Super Bowl,” said Broncos preseason analyst Ryan Harris. “How ’bout this? You got one of the best defensive ends saying the Broncos have a real chance at the Super Bowl. So, get mad at him, too.”
“Wow. This is something we’ve heard echoed from Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga,” he added. “They said, ‘I wanted to come here because of the defense, because of Bo Nix…’ When you have a great ownership group that lets you do the things to win championships, re-sign key players, and bring in marquee additions, you have a real shot. And getting over that hump, getting over that Chiefs hump in the season, and getting that first playoff berth. And, oh by the way, Micah Parsons: no playoff games.”
I had to dig up this clip to make sure it was 100% real and the clip makes it even funnier. They had a whole report set up and everything for something Micah Parsons never said.
Broncos producers should be embarrassed. I’m cackling. https://t.co/5Z1l4TsrG2 pic.twitter.com/kYdUcaD8Xs
— Chase Snyder (@ChasingSnyder) August 17, 2025
Except Parsons never said that. It was only made to appear that way.
#Cowboys superstar edge @MicahhParsons11 on possibly playing for the Broncos:
“My dream destination? Denver. I would love to play for the Broncos. They already got the best defense in the league and they have a real chance at a Super Bowl.”
(Via The Edge with Micah Parsons) pic.twitter.com/QCwziniHf2
— Normie 🪓 (@EpicNormie__) August 14, 2025
They weren’t the only ones to fall for this, but the verification process should be more than just checking out a graphic from an account with 1,000 followers on Elon Musk’s X. The unverified account, which later referred to the Parsons post as “bait,” included a TDN (The Draft Network) emblem at the top of the graphic to make it seem more official. The other problem is that a quick scan of TDN’s X account — or any of its social — would show you that the graphic doesn’t actually exist on other corners of the internet.
As it turns out, “trust but verify” applies to social media graphics, too
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.