Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons has played for America’s team long enough to know that NFL coverage centers on him and his teammates no matter the result.
But after a bad road loss to the Buffalo Bills this week, Parsons took what he called “fake analysts” to task over their propensity to attack the Cowboys the minute they slip. In particular, Parsons has an issue with former players who fall into this familiar habit.
“What I don’t understand is everyone just waits for the Cowboys to lose,” Parsons said to start his Bleacher Report podcast The Edge this week. “I saw multiple analysts, people who are fake analysts who someone got jobs on TV, saying, ‘There goes your boy.’ It’s almost to the point where it’s almost sick that former players are waiting for current players to fail so that way they have something to talk about.”
Certainly across every network, the 31-10 drubbing in Buffalo opened the floodgates on Cowboys hate. But the loss was uninspiring at exactly the moment Dallas was moving up the standings and beginning to prove itself as a real NFL contender after several playoff disappointments.
Parsons doesn’t appreciate the kick-them-while-they’re-down nature of Cowboys coverage.
“Why do you want a person to lose so badly?” Parsons questioned. “I’m a fan of the game, right? Whether I’m playing Josh Allen or whoever, at the end of the day, I don’t wanna see Josh Allen hurt. I don’t wanna see him fail. I want him to continue his career. Obviously, when we’re playing and we’re lining up (against one another), I’m trying to beat him. But it seems that a lot of people are just waiting for people to fail.”
Still, that same dynamic fuels athletes like Parsons who play in Dallas. Would he be hosting a Bleacher Report podcast if not for his fame leading the Cowboy defense?
And for fans who attack reporters for their Cowboys opinions, most NFL fan bases would trade for more attention in a heartbeat.
The Cowboys are the most popular team in the NFL, for better and worse. Parsons and anyone else from Cowboys nation is going to feel the love and the hate more intensely than just about anyone else in football.
[The Edge]
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.