Cowboys Comedy: Micah Parsons Premature Puck, Lost Key?
FRISCO - The lion was lost on the ice.
While a bevy of NFL stars joined former Dallas Cowboys Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin at Monday night's Dallas Mavericks playoff win, linebacker Micah Parsons also recently spent some of his offseason taking in a different sporting event.
But unlike Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray - who clearly enjoyed them at American Airlines Center - the Cowboys' reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year was hilariously out of his element on the ice.
Tim Heitman/USA Today Sports
Parsons, who went to college at Penn State, was back in his old stomping grounds to be honored at a hockey game last Sunday night. He attended a game of the Hershey (Pennsylvania) Bears, a minor-league team located about 15 miles from Parsons' hometown of Harrisburg that serves as a development squad for the Washington Capitals.
Outfitted in a Bears sweater emblazoned with his name and trademark No. 11, Parsons - who often refers to himself in the third "person" as "Lion" - looked like, well, a lion on ice. He was supposed to perform the ceremonial "puck drop", a long-standing hockey tradition not unlike baseball's first pitch.
Parsons, however, was comically clueless about his duties.
Instead of waiting for two opposing players to flank him as he supposedly and gingerly dropped the puck for a photo opportunity, Parsons waltzed to center-ice and abruptly, prematurely threw the puck down not unlike how you'd toss an empty Whataburger cup into the trash can.
In a tweet, the Bears apologized for not explaining the protocol to Parsons. While he seemed to get a laugh out of the gaffe, New York Giants running back and former Nittany Lion Saquon Barkley couldn't help but call him out.
As Parsons looked around with hands up in confusion as the crowd chuckled, players retrieved the puck so he could properly "drop" it. Even though Parsons plays defense, this was clearly a false start.
Pretty sure the Cowboys don't have to worry about losing Parsons to the Dallas Stars.
But that’s not the only "trouble" Parsons apparently had back in his home state. The 22-year-old is set to receive the key to Pennsylvania’s capital on Tuesday … for the second time:
Parsons, however, is throwing the challenge flag.
