Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons plans to keep doing his weekly podcast, "The Edge," on Bleacher Report this football season and insists it is not a distraction.
Parsons defended his decision to keep doing the podcast this season in a lengthy justification to reporters after practice on Wednesday amid questions it could create distractions for the team.
"I don't think no one really cares about what I'm doing on a Monday afternoon when I'm at home with my kids," said Parsons. "So why would they care if I'm on Xbox? I think we all get our own free time. When y'all away from here are y'all thinking about me at home? I would hope not.
"I try not to say (anything) controversial but everyone always is gonna be drawn to something. They're going to try to take one thing. We all have opinions. We're not going to agree to what everyone says. That's life."
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Parsons began doing his podcast at the start of last season and did weekly episodes up until the end of the Super Bowl. This year, Parsons was even named the president of Bleacher Report’s Gridiron division, which focuses on the company’s football creative content, in May.
However, the podcast drew criticism from Parsons' Cowboys teammate, safety Malik Hooker, on June 27. Hooker criticized Parsons during a podcast appearance of his own, when he was a guest on the "All Facts No Brakes" podcast with former Pro Bowl receiver Keyshawn Johnson.
"My advice would be for Micah, it would be: Just make sure we’re all right, and being where your feet are," Hooker said on June 27. "Because if we’re out working, and the run game’s terrible, but you’re doing a podcast every week — and you know the run game is terrible — then what are you really caring about? Are you caring about the crowd that’s watching your podcast, or are you caring about the success of our team, and the Super Bowl that we’re trying to reach?"
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Parson responded in a since-deleted post on X.
"Just wish you said this to me but instead on some podcast!" Parsons wrote. "And you got my number family! And you my locker mate! So you coulda said this any day! And you do realize I shoot the podcast on our off day! Why ain’t we talking about everyone preparations and focus."
In his first year as a podcast host, Parsons used the show to speak in an unfiltered fashion about what was going on around the NFL.
In one episode in September, while discussing the relationship between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Parsons encouraged other NFL players to pursue relationships with high-status celebrity women, and specifically named Zendaya as someone they should pursue. He said this despite the fact that Zendaya has been in a long-term relationship with actor Tom Holland since 2021.
In another episode in November, following a game in which Parsons threw up on the sidelines while playing the Carolina Panthers, Parsons revealed that his teammates had pressured him into overdosing on C4 Energy powder before the game, which caused him chest pain and eventual nausea.
Now, he goes into the 2024 season with executive-level responsibilities in sports media after a Cowboys training camp marred by on and off-the-field issues, including a holdout by wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and a public spat with owner Jerry Jones over a new contract. Parsons is eligible for a new contract himself, and 2024 is the last base year of his current deal. However, the Cowboys exercised the fifth-year option in April.
The Cowboys drafted Parsons in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Penn State. Parsons has been a Pro Bowler and All-Pro while helping lead Dallas to the playoffs in each of his three NFL seasons. However, Dallas has gone 1-3 in the playoffs during that time and has failed to reach the conference championship.
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