Micah Parsons: ‘Can become…even better’ than LA Rams Aaron Donald

The LA Rams are the defending Super Bowl Champions. It hasn’t taken long for the guy who plays with stars on their helmets to start singling out Rams players.

What is in the water that the Dallas Cowboys gives to their players? Is it the fact that they have stars on their heads? Is it a matter of being prodded to be loud and proud on social media? And yet, just one year out of the gates, the pair of Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs has willingly compared themselves to LA Rams legends Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey?

That’s right. Not Cowboys fans on Twitter. We’re talking about the players themselves. Or more accurately, direct from linebacker Micah Parsons. The news first broke during Mackenzie Salmons’ zoom interview on USA Today Sports with linebacker Micah Parsons.  That prompted the story to be picked up Around the NFL (see below). That in turn, was how I first caught wind of the story.

Now do not get me wrong, both Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs are very good players, and they are a perfect fit in the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive scheme. Both had tremendously successful seasons. Parsons and Diggs were NFL All-Pros in 2021. That was one year.

But it’s another matter altogether to come out of the gates and claim to be better than the All-Time Best, particularly when the players they plan to be better than are still playing in the NFL. Just for comparison’s sake? Aaron Donald has been All-Pro for the past seven consecutive seasons, as an interior defensive lineman. Jalen Ramsey has been All-Pro in three of his past seven seasons.

It really doesn’t get easier.

Don’t bite on comparisons to NFL’s best as a rookie

Parsons bit when the host asked him if he and teammate Treven Diggs are the best in the NFL. She got him to jump to the statement that she wanted because it will be the soundbite that will haunt Parsons unless he makes good on that casual statement:

"““It’s hard to say we’re the best because I know we’re young and we still make mistakes. It’s hard to put us over (LA Rams defensive lineman) Aaron Donald, the greatest defensive player in history, with Jalen Ramsey. So I won’t do it yet. But I think we can become them or even better if we learn together and stick together.” – Cowboys LB Micah Parsons as interviews by USA Today’s Jori Epstein"

Becoming even better than Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey? Those are pretty lofty goals from a rookie.

This scenario is remarkably similar to that of former New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre Paul. After his second NFL season of putting up 16.5 quarterback sacks and being named All-Pro, so many claimed that his NFL career would dwarf that of legendary defensive end Reggie White. White ended his NFL career with 198 quarterback sacks in 15 NFL seasons. To date, Jason Pierre Paul has recorded 91.5 career quarterback sacks in 12 NFL seasons.

It’s okay to enjoy an outstanding season. But I prefer a player who stays humble, puts in the work, and shows up on the football field to prove their value. When a player claims to be the best in the NFL after just one solid season? I simply respond by remembering that we’ve seen that before.

And it typically does not work out like the player says it will.