Micah Parsons continues to support Penn State wrestling

Former Penn State football defender Micah Parsons and current Dallas Cowboys star has been a wrestling fan his entire life and it started by participating growing up. Parsons wrestled as a kid and eventually stopped the sport before high school to focus on his football career. That decision was made because football offers more long-term success and financial stability than wrestling. Just because Parsons did not have a role on the Penn State wrestling team and wasn’t coached by Cael Sanderson, that doesn’t mean that the former Nittany Lion still doesn’t appreciate the sport.

Micah Parsons continues to support Penn State wrestling

In an interview with GoPSUsports during the 2023 BJC dual against Iowa, Parsons mentioned that he thinks “wrestling is the hardest sport to train for and that wrestlers don’t get enough credit for the work they put in.”

While playing football for Penn State, it was a given that Parsons would attend every single one of the home wrestling duals. Often he could be seen on the television sitting in the front row jumping out of his seat whenever his friends picked up the pin.

Parsons has been active on social media and has put the sport in a more national spotlight. “Where is a great wrestling room in Austin Texas?!” he tweeted out last April. So even after NFL stardom with the Dallas Cowboys, wrestling still is a part of his DNA.

Relationship with the team

There was almost a point where Micah Parsons wrestled for Penn State, or at least he wanted to try out. Cael Sanderson told a story during a press conference back in 2018 about how Parsons called him and said he wanted to try out for the team. It never advanced further than that but the football superstar still found himself in the room.

His favorite Penn State wrestler of all time is Bo Nickal and there have been plenty of stories over the years about how Micah and Bo wrestled together within the room. He has continued to come back to campus even after heading to the NFL to play for the Dallas Cowboys and wrestled in the room with all of the current and former NCAA Champions.

At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Aaron Brooks spoke on his relationship with Parsons. “That’s my brother man. I think I was 10 years old, but he came and stayed at my house for a camp and he spent the weekend with my family.”

The next logical question was, has Aaron Brooks ever wrestled Micah Parsons?

“Never, but he was just in the back room. He never stops” Brooks told the media during an interview after winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Anyone who was around during the final sessions of the trials saw Parsons hanging out and walking around with 4-time NCAA Champion Carter Starocci and completely locked into everything that was going on.

Growing the sport

It isn’t exactly a secret that NCAA Wrestling isn’t as popular as quite a few other collegiate sports. After all, the majority of the teams are located within the Northeast and Midwest with virtually no presence in the Southern part of the United States. Sports like football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball have more national exposure and coverage.

In recent years though the sport has been picking up steam again and new programs having success like Arkansas-Little Rock have shown new growth. Having national shows like The Pat McAfee Show to talk about the NCAA Championships is another step in the direction of growing the sport.

More importantly, having major sports figures like Micah Parsons could be what helps take NCAA Wrestling and Penn State wrestling to another level in terms of popularity. It is a way to get more casual viewers to follow the sport. Not that Cael Sanderson needs any recruiting edge, but the fan interest from Parsons and his fans could benefit Penn State.

This past March when Penn State and Cael Sanderson won their 11th NCAA Title in 13 seasons and had a record-breaking performance, Micah Parsons immediately went to social media promoting Penn State wrestling to his 500k+ X followers.

“Just don’t see how you can love wrestling and not go to Penn State! Coached by the best and wrestle with the best!”

Just don’t see how you can love wrestling and not go to Penn state! Coached by the best and wrestle with the best! https://t.co/6Xdg7HQSkF

— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) March 24, 2024

Looking at the big picture it goes beyond just wrestling fans. A die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan may want to follow his favorite player’s interests and find himself watching Penn State wrestling. A demographic that would never have been reached if it wasn’t for a guy like Micah Parsons showing so much enthusiasm for the sport. It won’t happen overnight, but the wrestling world needs more like Parsons connected to it.

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