Malik Hooker ‘Dividing the Locker Room’ Over Micah Parsons Comment, Says Ex-Packers WR, Defends Cowboys LB Following Public Assault

The Dallas Cowboys have found themselves in highlights once again and no, nobody’s getting a contract extension. Rather, the news is about Malik Hooker, the Cowboys Safety, who criticized Micah Parsons the LB for a lot of different reasons. Hooker came to Keyshawn Johnson’s podcast All Facts No Brakes, revealing things that were distasteful for Parsons.

The conversation was picked up by the hosts of SPEAK and James Jones of the show, who believed Hooker should have confronted Micah Parsons in person rather than going on a tirade on the podcast (a platform that he is not fond of). Micah Parsons didn’t want anything unaddressed, so he went on social media and posted a logical response. A response that NFL veterans, with their numerous years of experience, agree with.

“When guys come out and say this stuff publicly, then now you put the magnifying glass on that,” said the Packers ex-wideout on SPEAK and added, “As great as Micah is, now people may put the magnifying glass on him and say, ‘Oh he IS jumping out of gaps. Is he that good? Is it his fault?’ Now all that starts to happen and now you’re dividing the locker room. That’s why I say come to the player directly because this can stir up a bunch of stuff.” To get to the truth, it’s important to understand where all this is coming from.

“My advice for Micah would be you know make sure that we’re alright and being where your feet are,” said Hooker and added, “The run game is terrible but you’re doing a podcast every week.” “What do you really care about? You care about the crowd that is watching the podcast or do you care about the success of our team and the Super Bowl that we’re trying to reach?” said Hooker on Keyshawn Johnson’s podcast. To his credit, he did clarify that he doesn’t have a problem with Parsons having a podcast if the “run game” is fine.

Why talk about the “run game”? Parsons is one of the best edge rushers in the league, right? The Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys Wild Card game would be a perfect point to start. It’s no surprise that the defeat was embarrassing for the Dallas Cowboys and one of the reasons behind it being an All-Pro LB scoring just 2 tackles throughout the game. What’s even surprising is the fact that even though Jordan Love completed 16 of his 21 passing attempts, he still managed to score 3 touchdowns. Without a single interception! Added to that, Love wasn’t sacked even once in that game. So, was it just a bad day for Micah Parsons, or is there more to this story?

An analysis suggests that Parsons is fast and weighs significantly less for the position that he plays, whereas Packers O-Line sports of players bigger, heavier and stronger than Parsons. Though Parsons is fast, the Packers concentrated all their efforts to stop him from getting to Jordan Love. But that doesn’t mean that Parsons is the only weak link in Dallas’ defense. It’s just that Matt LaFleur’s team is much more physical. Also, Jordan only attempting 21 throws gave fewer chances to Parsons to rush him.

Even though Dak Prescott threw for 403 yards and had completed 41 of his whopping 60 passes, the QB took 4 sacks and was intercepted twice. At that point, it was a numbers game and Dallas gave more chances for the Packers’ edge rushers to get to him. Keisean Nixon, De’Vondre Campbell, Lukas Van Ness, and Preston Smith had a sack each in the game. Also, an interesting thing to note here is that the Packers rushed the ball more (143 yards)  than Cowboys (123 yards). So, everything isn’t necessarily Micah Parsons’ fault here. Some of it is on Dallas’ offense too.

What happened couple of months after the game was even more surprising. Parsons did a podcast with Jordan Love a couple of months after the Cowboys upset in January. In the podcast titled, “Jordan Love Explains How Packers Beat Cowboys and Micah Tells Eagles Draft Story,” Micah addressed that he wasn’t comfortable doing it in the first place. But there both were, trying to mesh it out like nothing ever happened. Maybe that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and caused all the drama in the league. 

Did Micah Parsons just back-pedal?

For some reason, Parsons was quick to delete his reply to Malik Hooker. Perhaps he doesn’t want any more drama. Parsons’ deleted post on X said,

“Just wish you said this to me but instead on some podcast and you got my number family! @MalikHooker24 and you my locker mate! So you coulda said this any day! And you do realize I shoot the podcast on our off day! Why ain’t we talking about everyone preparations and focus,” but didn’t garner any reply for the Cowboys safety. Will they bury the hatchet anytime soon? All will be revealed when the next season starts. 

Oct 30, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

If only it were that easy. His podcast wasn’t the only thing that Malik Hooker talked about in his podcast appearance. He thinks Micah is far from getting a contract extension with the Cowboys and there are others in line before him. “Micah still has a lot to prove,” Hooker told Keyshawn Johnson. “He’s a fantastic player, but I feel like Micah still has a surface that he doesn’t even know that he can scratch as far as what he’s doing. So, I would say Micah is last just for that reasoning.”

You would’ve guessed by now that Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb might be Cowboys’ first priority before Parsons. An interesting thing to note, Parsons stopped boycotting his training camp and showed up a few weeks ago. Around the same time, news broke out that Cowboys have picked Parsons up for the fifth year option. A deal that will pay him about $21.3 million for the season but not as a linebacker, but as a defensive end, because apparently, the Cowboys will save $3 million in cap space because as an LB, he would have made $24 million next year. His contract is already getting shaken up.

Also, does anyone remember what happened in the Cowboys-Dolphins Christmas game? Micah Parsons and Tyreek Hill were on to each other, in a friendly way of course. But it was on his podcast where he told Tyreek Hill, “Come over here to my side and my baby girl is getting cheetah print.” That didn’t age well because the Cowboys lost 22-20 against the Dolphins, away from the AT&T Stadium. So don’t Hooker’s theories have an ounce of truth to them?

The point being, Malik is not completely wrong and Micah Parsons said some things that were out of his depth, made promises that he couldn’t fulfil and everything is on the internet to see. Moreover, doesn’t that put pressure on other Cowboys to perform and change the energy in the locker room? Parsons did explain that his podcast has nothing to do with his training and he does that when he’s not on the Cowboys clock. Creating a podcast isn’t illegal, there’s nothing to absolve Parsons from. He’s one of the best edge rushers in the league and there’s some truth to it.

But despite all the drama, one thing is for sure, from now on, Parsons and Hooker might have to work on their relationship and not give too much into the off-the field drama as long as everything is ok.