Micah Parsons made his name as one of the great pass rushers in a Penn State jersey but he could have done the same in Ohio for the Buckeyes.
After graduating from prestigious Penn State, Micah Parsons is set to play his fourth year in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys—but what if his path was different? What if he went to a different school instead of the Pennsylvania juggernauts? Perhaps his future would have been very different from what it is right now.
In season 2, episode 22 of the Edge podcast on Bleacher Report, Parsons revealed that he nearly committed to a college powerhouse besides Penn State. His guest at that time was Atlanta Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson, who played ball at Texas but had briefly committed to Ohio State in 2020.
Robinson’s visit to the Buckeyes’ campus left him speechless. He was in the same class as Texans QB CJ Stroud and Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. As it turned out, he narrowly missed out on playing alongside Parsons.
The 26-year-old pass rusher experienced the same two years earlier when his dad chaperoned him throughout the Ohio State campus.
The facilities are crazy… I will say this publicly: I almost went to Ohio State, too. It has a certain energy to it.
Micah Parsons revealed
Parsons’ folks were infatuated by the prospect of their son joining the Buckeyes. He recalled receiving calls from Buckeyes staff, egging him on to commit
They was like… They pressured me to commit. It was like come right now, we got one other person waiting but we want you to be our last guy… They’re good.
Parsons added
On his graduation day, the university’s associate director awarded Parsons with his degree. He achieved a ‘3.00 cumulative GPA.’ Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin said via 247 Sports,
I’ve been coaching 23 years, and the book [on this experience] will probably be five chapters on my career and then 15 chapters on the ups and downs and twists and turns, and the journey of Micah Parsons.
Parsons is now a 4x Pro Bowler, 2x First Team, and one Second Team All-Pro, and he won the defensive rookie award in 2021. Currently, he is seeking a long-term extension from the Cowboys that would make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
