PITTSBURGH --Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has a lot of respect for former Harrisburg High School star and Green Bay Packers pass rusher Micah Parsons.
Parsons, who became the highest paid defensive player in football shortly before the season, has taken the mantle with the Packers and become a force with them.
“You know, we need four hands on him at all times,” Rodgers said. “I said it with (T.J. Watt) when we played him last year, you can’t let him get any single matchups on you. Micah, he’s a phenomenal player, a future Hall of Fame, and he’s a game wrecker."
When Parsons was a young player, Rodgers saw something in him that made the four-time MVP want to jersey swap with Parsons, who was still an ascending player at the time.
Speaking with the Athletic, Parsons recalls the moment, and he still has the No. 12 jersey framed. He calls it a ‘moment of great respect’ between one of his favorite quarterbacks to ever play the game of football.
““He was like, ‘I want to trade jerseys with you,’” Parsons said. “And I’m like, ‘The GOAT, Rodgers, wants to trade jerseys with me?’”
Parsons took that moment as a sign to keep pushing. Rodgers told him that he had everything he needed to become a star. Three years later, Parsons is the highest-paid defensive player to ever play the game, and continues to take steps towards cementing himself as the best pass rusher in all of football.
Parsons was traded from the Cowboys to the Packers this offseason after a standoff for a new contract boiled over. Wit the Packers, he has looked every bit of the player they thought they would acquire, and he has been a huge reason they have vaulted into one of the NFL’s best teams.
Parsons has never sacked or beaten Rodgers in his career, and this week is a chance for Parsons to knock both of those marks off his list.
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