Micah Parsons on leadership, plan to ‘check that box’ for Cowboys in 2024
OXNARD, California — Micah Parsons wants to be a leader in 2024 because,
in the end, a lion is not successful if his pride perishes.
He believes it can help the Dallas Cowboys reach a new height in their
quest to finally snap a decades-long championship drought,
and he has dedicated a significant amount of this offseason
to honing both his physical and mental forms.
This Parsons seems more mature and self-aware than he did
during his first two seasons with the Cowboys; in fact,
he acknowledged that he needed to make significant progress in this area.
“I want to avoid being perceived as someone who did not go above
and beyond to improve the lives of those around me,
” stated the three-time All-Pro pass rusher. “Last year, I didn’t check that box.”
In addition to talking with Cowboys teammates,
Parsons was frank about how he approached the situation.
He literally sat down to dinner with NFL greats like Ray Lewis,
Richard Sherman, Andrew Whitworth, and Tom Brady to
actively seek advice on how to become a better leader rather than just a player.
His obvious bond with Brady explains why he was observed
having a lengthy talk with him prior to the Cowboys’ preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams.
It all contributes to Parsons’s all-encompassing strategy.
“Honestly, it was a deep conversation [teammates and I] had
last year before the playoffs and guys were like,
‘You’ve gotta bring us along with you, and you can’t be on this journey alone,
if you’re mister All-Pro,'” Parsons gave an explanation,
took a moment to think, and then went on. For me,
it served as a reality check. This offseason, I asked my mentors,
“How do I approach this?” Since I’ve never had to perform this task before, how can I get better at it?
“My whole life it’s been ‘Micah’s gonna do what
Micah’s gotta do,’ and I just expected everyone else to do that.”
It’s an approach that got Parsons to where he is today,
true enough, but not one he feels will get him any further in his journey
toward a Super Bowl and potentially the Hall of Fame.
“You learn that leadership means some people
do need a pat on the back and some people do need a push
that tells them you need a little bit more out of [them],
because everyone’s not built the same and everyone doesn’t have
the same mindset,” he said. “I think it was a harsh reality check within myself.
I’ve gotta do what I gotta do to make myself better,
but also to bring along other guys. I feel like I needed that,
and I’m glad I had that conversation early on [in my career].”
Parsons is an athlete and talent of a generation that is unquestionable;
he has the ability to alter the outcome of a game. However,
the objective must be more expansive, namely to transform a whole locker room for the better.
The 25-year-old, who is about to start his fourth season in the league,
is already starting to understand things that many people in the game and in life may never fully understand.
Parsons declared, “I want everyone to be on the same level.”
“I run in the middle of practice all the time for that reason.
I want to be certain that I do what I speak about. They must witness me doing it.
“I’m just trying to show so much positive leadership that it’s like,
‘Man, if Micah is doing it, then I’ve gotta do it or I’m not gonna save nothing about it.’
” They have to see that if I’m not doing this, then I’m running,
because I have to be in the best shape for them and for myself.
I simply want to make sure everything is checked off so that when the
season and playoffs roll around, everyone will be locked in, in sync, and it will feel like a breath of fresh air.”
On January 14, 2023, the air inside AT&T Stadium was anything but clean.
That’s when the Cowboys’ defense allowed Jordan Love and the
Green Bay Packers to march onto the turf in Arlington and have
a field day with no permission slips needed. Love led the
Packers on three touchdown drives and 41 offensive points that evening.
It was the most scored against the Cowboys defense at home
all season and the second-most they’d allowed since their 42-10 loss to the 49ers in San Francisco in Week 5.
From heavily mentoring Mazi Smith to being intensely involved
with the recovery of Trevon Diggs from a torn ACL, and his
newfound exuberant energy in the locker room and on the
sidelines that eclipses his the usual cybernetic vibe he once deployed,
it’s downright a different Parsons taking the field for the Cowboys this season.
And it’s not by accident; rather, it’s the result of responsibility, awareness, and effort.
“I’m trying to find every characteristic from winning teams,”
Parsons stated. “… You need to identify traits from teams that are
winning and work toward implementing them on your team.
While each of these teams is unique, they all have certain characteristics.
I’m drawn to [greats] like Michael Strahan, Derek Jeter, and [Michael Jordan] because of this.
“It’s because they have so much greatness and they all have
characteristics, or something that I can pull from that I can bring here.”
Parsons can now see that one thing they all have in common is leadership.
These days, he only worries about bolstering one kind of pride.
He seems to have been purified of the other type.
Leave a Reply