'Garbage!' Dallas Cowboys' Micah Parsons Rips NBC For Criticism of Jets' Zach Wilson

"Zach Wilson is a human,'' Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons says in defending the New York Jets QB while chastising NBC analyst Rodney Harrison's "garbage'' take. "We don't use our platform to degrade other players. We use our platform to uplift people.''

FRISCO - The tendency toward "Trash TV'' when it comes to sports coverage is a long-standing issue in this space, so to see it ooze into prime time and mainstream on NBC's "Sunday Night Football'' is something we found bothersome ...

And so does Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, who is defending New York Jets QB Zach Wilson against the harsh and odd assessment from panelist Rodney Harrison.

Harrison called Wilson "garbage" during a post-game interview with Chris Jones on Sunday night, trying to lure the Kansas City Chiefs star into repeating the assertion. When Jones smartly answered using some diplomacy, the NBC analyst kept pushing. It was a strange exchange ... and it caught the eye of Parsons, who says it was a "fraudulent move'' by Harrison.

Parsons, Harrison and Wilson

"I truly believe that we are not one to judge," Parsons said. "We cannot just keep saying someone's garbage, saying who's special, who's not special ... (Wilson is) a top-five pick. He got drafted that high for a reason. Let his traits and everything he does grow."

Micah Parsons stands up for Zach Wilson after Rodney Harrison bashed him on SNF ✊ pic.twitter.com/x3IV6rFHWQ

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) October 2, 2023

Journalistically, there is nothing wrong with evaluating Wilson or Parsons or anybody else; Harrison, the former NFL player, is paid to make those evaluations. Wilson is a much-maligned former No. 2 pick who is the QB in New York now that Aaron Rodgers is hurt, and in this game was part of a 23-20 loss to the Chiefs that sends the Jets to 1-3.

In that sense, Parsons is incorrect about "judging.'' It is indeed Harrison's job to "scout,'' "evaluate'' and "judge.'' But calling a player "garbage'' is not "scouting'' - it is itself "garbage.'' (Harrison has since apologized to the Jets.)

Having said all of that, Parsons - who was a part of 3-1 Dallas' Week 2 win over Wilson and the Jets by a blowout score of 38-10 - offers an interesting take in general on some football humanity.

"Zach is a human,'' Micah said. "We don't use our platform to degrade other players. That's just not what we do. We use our platform to uplift people. ... Every person in this world just needs someone to believe in them, and I'm big on that."