Cowboys Micah Parsons, Ref Critic, Limps Off Injured at Bills: 'It's So Bad!'
Micah Parsons, as a defensive weapon, is virtually unstoppable.
Micah Parsons as a commentator on the state of many things, including NFL officiating? He's even more unstoppable.
It is the weekend, game day right around the corner, and the 10-3 Dallas Cowboys are heading to windy and wet Buffalo for a game that could clinch a playoff spot for "America's Team.'' They're at The Star in Frisco, Micah and the rest, getting ready to board the charter plane before eating breakfast, going to chapel, engaging in meetings ...
And Micah Parsons is on Twitter, griping about NFL officiating.
"It’s so bad,'' Parsons wrote, "I’m about to start a 'Pass Rush Anonymous' so they can share their feelings without being judged!''
Now Micah is here ... the game is started ... and he's already been dinged up, a result of a fluke contact when a Bills player's body hit his leg from behind.
Micah exited the game briefly but returned ... as the Bills drove to open the scoring with a TD.
So Micah is OK .... and back to opposing the NFL refs.
It's a very clever dig; Parsons, just 24, has in his three years in Dallas always been quick with the quip. It's also accurate in how it addresses the colleague who started the subject, Cleveland's Myles Garrett, who has suggested that the referees are biased against him.
"Right now I’m not getting any calls,'' Garrett said, "so it can’t get much worse than that (by talking openly about allegations of bias), but I hope it has a positive effect. I'm not trying to offend anybody.''
Forget for a moment that the refs might actually be "offended'' by Parsons and Garrett suggesting they are targeted negatively. Let's also put aside the inarguable point that NFL officials seem like the by-far weakest aspect of this multi-trillion-dollar business.
And let's factor in some reality, too: Parsons claims he gets held on "75 percent'' of his pass-rush attempts. Rather than claim it, how about if the Cowboys - no, better, the NFL itself - study that claim? Prove it or disprove it?
Meanwhile, is there something to be gained by non-stop bitching about it? Is that campaign - and the brilliant Parsons has been engaged in it for two years - actually helping?
The NFL needs answers here. The officials are overwhelmed and underperforming and embarrassing. But as players approach game day ... is there a better way to fix the system - or even to get a call - than by piling on the refs in a lengthy series of public proclamation of their incompetence?
