Micah Parsons is a Pennsylvania native from Harrisburg who's been more of an Eagles fan than Steelers fan throughout his childhood and college years.
Tonight he has a chance to damage the Steelers' 2025 playoff hopes as a member of the Green Bay Packers. He's their star pass-rusher who wears No. 1, a number that hasn't been worn in Greeen Bay since the days when founder Curly Lambeau played in the 1920s.
The Steelers will know where Parsons lines up on every snap, but can they protect the game's biggest star, Steelers and former Packers QB Aaron Rodgers? We went around the Steelers' locker room to talk about Parsons with those who've known and studied him best.
DONTE KENT
Q: Parsons played with you in high school when you were a freshman and sophomore, right?
DK: As a sophomore. He got there late my freshman year. He transferred from Central Dauphin.
Q: He didn't play with you in the state championship game your freshman year?
DK: I did. I was called up from the freshman team. He played in that game. I don't even remember much about it, honestly. (No. 3 seeded Harrisburg lost to No. 12 Archbishop Wood in the Class 5A championship game.)
Q: What do you remember about him?
DK: Whatever sport he was doing, he's going 110%. Even this past offseason, I was just training with him, working out with him, just watching his approach. He's a great guy overall. But he's a dog.
Q: Was this while he was holding out, having a contract dispute? And what was his demeanor toward that?
DK: It was like a next-day mentality, just giving it all he had for that day and continuing it to better himself, and staying prepared for whatever moment came to him. And you see, he's with the Packers now. And he's ready for it.
Q: Have you been in contact with him this week?
DK: Nope.
Q: Why?
DK: No reason to.
Q: You had told me earlier that you knew, just looking at him in high school, that he was destined for this kind of level. Do you remember anything in particular?
DK: Go back and watch the tape. You're going to be able to tell. It was night and day comparing him and all the other people out there. We used him at running back as well. Even when guys wouldn't block for him he's still making a play. So it was just, it was obvious.
Q: Was he a team leader who spoke up a lot?
DK: We all kind of like grew up together, so we all kind of had chemistry. But, yeah, he was one of those guys, one of those leaders on the team.
Q: You said he hung with your older brother, so was he over at your house a lot?
DK: We played on the same youth league team all our life growing up, so we were familiar. I'm not sure if he ever came over or not. He might have, I don't know. I'm all grown up now so I don't really remember, but yeah, he's a cool dude. We grew up together, played football together, wrestled together. He played basketball as well.
Q: Was he a good wrestler?
DK: Oh yeah. He was a state champion if I'm not mistaken.
PAT FREIERMUTH
Q: Hold on a sec. Let me get my phone working here.
PF: (Chuckles) That looks like my dad's phone. I keep telling him to get a new one. He's still got the home button, too. I always laugh.
Q: But I like the home button.
PF: (Laughs) You sound like him.
Q: OK. You came in with Micah at Penn State, didn't you?
PF: I did.
Q: How close were you guys?
PF: Me and Micah, we're not too close out of the facility, but we always had the respect where we competed every single day in practice; we got each other better. He's a very good guy to compete against. He was top tiers from Day One at Penn State. We both started as freshmen, so we really competed. We leaned on each other as growth on the field. He was a great teammate and I have a lot of respect for him.
Q: How much did you have to block him in practice?
PF: I tried to block him, and then quickly moved to our other D-end (chuckles). But no, he's an elusive player. He's very instinctive, see ball/get ball kind of guy, and he's developed really nice in the pros. We're gonna have our hands full going against him on Sunday night.
Q: Do you have a story where he might have amazed you, either practice or game, anything that stands out?
PF: I mean, there's just a bunch of moments. I remember our freshman year, he made a play in preseason camp and it was just like, 'Oh, well this guy's ready.' But the cool thing about me and Micah was we would always compete in run blocking and workouts and pass coverage. We would get each other better every single day, and that was the cool part of just seeing each of our development in college and in the pros.
Q: Did you even think twice about him making the NFL one day?
PF: No, absolutely not. From Day One, just his mentality and workouts and stuff like that, I knew he was going to be one of the all-time greats at Penn State and in the NFL.
Q: And he played middle linebacker his freshman year?
PF: He played a bunch. He played will linebacker. and then he moved to on-the-ball. He lined up anywhere. Anywhere we needed a play, we lined him up.
KENNETH GAINWELL
Q: When you were at Memphis, didn't you play against Parsons in the Cotton Bowl?
KG: Yeah, I did.
Q: He was the MVP in that game. What was he like?
KG: He was kind of the same way he is now. He's a physical guy, up-the-field guy, so a finesse type of guy. I feel like he's the same way now. I played him (when he was with Dallas) four years straight in Philly, so, yeah, I know the guy wholeheartedly. There's a little love/hate relationship between those two teams.
Q: Did you say he was both physical and finesse? How does that work?
KG: He's a physical and finesse guy, yeah. He can long-arm you; he can do anything physically. And the finesse part, he can fake you into moving you if you need moved.
Q: How often have you had to pick him up on a blitz?
KG: On him, it's more just a chip because he's rarely lining up at linebacker. So, just chip, or whatever we have for him.
Q: Can he cover?
KG: He's a straight-line guy. He can cover, but I don't think he can cover Pat.
Q: Even with that 4.39 speed?
KG: That don't mean nothing. You can be fast but can't cover a guy that can move laterally.
Q: Is he the scary monster we're all thinking he is?
KG: Hmm. Well, I mean, he ain't that scary. You can stop him once. His rush is two-dimensional, either under you or around you. So, I mean, once we stop his rush, get the ball out fast and he'll be dead in the waters.
Q: Is he a trash talker?
KG: I don't know. I don't really know if anybody tries to talk, because I get back to the huddle. I'm just locked in.
SPENCER ANDERSON
Q: Do you go back far with Parsons?
SA: He opted out the year we went to Penn State and beat them. He opted out. That was the Covid year,
Q: Well, you seen on film. You've gone against Myles Garrett, Trey Hendrickson, Maxx Crosby. Where does Parsons rank? And why is he different?
SA: He's a lot quicker than most edge-rushers, which I think is his calling card. So it's like most of the time you might be setting for him to beat you around the edge, and then soon as you kind of overset, then he's going inside, and it's like in a blink of an eye. So you have to be real technical with him. Got to have good feet, obviously. I like to equate our position to DB -- the tackle position to DB. We're moving backwards and the defense is moving forward, so obviously he has the advantage. And when somebody can move like that, he, for sure, has the advantage. I think he has a good arsenal. He has counters, he can bull-rush, he can stand, long-arm. He's everything you could want out of a pass-rusher.
Q: Does he have that power to go with that speed?
SA: I think he does. Yeah. A lot of the times you might get off-balance and, I guess, kind of turn, and that's when he'll power you back into the quarterback, which, obviously, you're not expecting that from a guy like him. But then next thing you know, you're on your heels and praying that the ball gets out of the quarterback's hand.
Q: Could you rank the top pass-rushers for me in order?
SA: No, not really. It's all subjective. Personally, being mainly an interior guy, I like watching a lot of Aaron Donald. I don't really like to deal with the edges, just because I'm more focused on the interior guys. So I don't think I can rank them. I feel like they're all like 1-A, B, C, D type of thing.
Q: Wise answer. Take care, man.
Micah Parsons (11) holds up the Defensive MVP trophy from the 2019 Cotton Bowl, his last game at Penn State. (Photo: Tim Heitman, USA TODAY Sports)