For more than a year, a single clip towered over the Micah Parsons mythology, a brief clip of him running over All-Pro safety Derwin James in an offseason workout drill. It got shared endlessly, used in debates, and cited as proof of Parsons’s freakish edge-rusher power. The story was easy: Parsons was unstoppable, even against premier competition such as James. But that dominance, it now appears, wasn’t something everyone agreed on.
“I was on the bottom?” James laughed when asked about the infamous clip during the Aug 4 episode of Up & Adams. “Nah, he definitely didn’t dominate me. If you really watch the video, he was at the bottom the whole time, mostly.” That subtle jab was no throwaway comment. It was a well-placed needle, quiet but pointed, and it flipped a year-long narrative on its head.
James didn’t slam Parsons. “That’s my brother though, man. Um, I love him a lot,” he said. But the tone was unmistakable: the perception of that drill by the public wasn’t entirely correct, and perhaps, neither is the league’s perception of Parsons as an untouchable, unstoppable force beyond criticism. The timing was coincidental as well. With Parsons at odds with the Cowboys and holding out from camp, the foundation beneath his media image has begun to erode.
FILE PHOTO: Jun 13, 2024; Costa Mesa, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. (3) at a press conference during minicamp at the Hoag Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo
And James’s rebuke is timed at a point when Parsons’s reputation is no longer about making it happen. Indeed, it’s about managing perception. That viral video wasn’t an asterisk; it was symbolic. It appeared in player ranking arguments, on-air analysis. To retroactively diminish its significance by James isn’t just about him; it’s about politics.
It invites a question few dared to ask last season: has Parsons’s dominance narrative outpaced the actual tape? Despite his brilliance, Parsons saw his sack total dip from 14 in 2023 to 12.0 in 2024, even as the Cowboys leaned more heavily on him. He struggled to consistently take over games in the 2023 season against elite competition, especially during Dallas’ disastrous Wild Card loss.
James’s lighthearted jab now aligns with a larger undertone of reassessment, particularly as Parsons’s inability to attend training camp provides fresh room for critics and contract doubters to resurface. What seemed like dominance in a single frame now seems like contention. What was once meme material has now become a chink in the armor, and for a player whose persona relies on being unbeatable, that change might have a more significant effect than it appears.
Strategic agent shoutout amidst Cowboys chaos
And then came the ultimate twist. “S/O to my man David Mulugheta. Best agent out there,” Parsons said on the same interview. A throwaway sentence that, to the outside world, might’ve been mere flattery. But amid a contract impasse, during days of quiet from the Cowboys‘ front office and increasing media tension, it sounded closer to an avowal of allegiance. Parsons is not merely doubling down on himself; he’s leaving his fate in the hands of Mulugheta to navigate what’s turning into a staredown of high stakes.
Credit: @Brandoniswrite
Mulugheta, also the agent for stars Jalen Ramsey and Deshaun Watson. Has never hesitated to go to bat for his clients in public or use perception to put pressure behind closed doors. His players tend to negotiate with cool assurance. And Parsons’ recent tweets have echoed that voice: equal parts motivational, defiant, and increasingly, distancing. Only weeks prior, Parsons was shutting down Cowboys legends and analysts of the team-hired variety. Then the Instagram purge occurred. And now, the agent shoutout. Each action is another piece of strategic distance from the franchise that previously promoted him as its defensive stalwart.
And although he hasn’t formally asked for a trade, breadcrumbs have been piling up. “I stayed quiet…but again after repeated shots at myself…and all the narratives…I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys,” Micah Parsons wrote in a now-famous post. He didn’t mention anyone’s name. He didn’t have to. The message as was the case with Derwin James’s jab, was tidy, sharp, and well-timed. Parsons, who was once the image of Dallas’ future defense, is now playing a whole other game. The team has not issued public statements.
And maybe that’s not just silence. Maybe it’s instead evidence of a man who is controlling his narrative. Whether it’s James shooting holes in his mythos or Micah Parsons embracing the playbook of past Mulugheta clients. The vibe around one of the NFL’s scariest defenders isn’t constructed anymore on dominance, it’s constructed on control.
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