Despite having won nothing on the field in 25 years, the Dallas Cowboys remain in the spotlight as “America’s Team.” They can’t get out of their own way, yet continue to dominate NFL headlines year-round. Owner Jerry Jones has a radio show in Dallas, and now another Cowboys personality will have a weekly national platform on which to to spew Cowboys propaganda.
This fall, All-Pro/Rookie of the Year award-winner Micah Parsons will join Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe as their weekly guest every Tuesday morning on Fox Sports’ Undisputed.
Undisputed has been criticized for no longer having guests, so this should fill that void. Another thing Skip and Shannon have been taken to task over on social media is the Cowboys’ heavy content five days a week. That’s all year, not just during football season.
Honestly, I’m not sure who was clamoring for this, aside from Bayless. The addition of Parsons each week won’t do anything to reduce this bit of criticism, but at least it’ll be different. Unless Parsons makes some wildly ridiculous statements like Patrick Beverly did during the NBA playoffs for ESPN, this will likely be seen as a dud everywhere outside of Dallas.
Having active players on sports debate shows rarely adds anything. Most players don’t want to truthfully critique anyone they’ve got to play with or against, especially in football. That doesn’t mean guys are scared, but teammates and coaches frown on giving anyone “bulletin board” material. NFL players and coaches are probably the most mindful of this and usually refrain from saying anything that can be misconstrued during press conferences.
Maybe Undisputed is going in a similar direction to First Take, which features a different guest every day of the week. On First Take, it’s a different guest host, but Undisputed could be trying something along that same path. To just have Parsons on every Tuesday for a couple segments (maybe more) feels random.
Sure, Parsons has shown some personality on social media and even lashed out, saying he could post better numbers than Draymond Green during the NBA Finals. But that was him being critical of a basketball player he’ll never face in any sanctioned professional game.
In his rookie year last season, Parsons had a back-and-forth with FS1 analyst and host of Speak For Yourself, Emmanuel Acho. The former NFL linebacker, Acho, said Dallas should not have released Jaylen Smith because it added too much to Parsons’ plate, which the Cowboys’ linebacker took offense to. A Twitter battle ensued, with both men attempting to prove their point against the other.
It makes you wonder who, besides Cowboys fans, Undisputed is trying to grab. The Cowboys have a huge fan base, but that doesn’t necessarily warrant Parsons as a weekly guest. Parsons is a great player, and hopefully, I’m wrong about this, but I don’t see this move making more people tune in. Trying something new is great, but we know this will be nothing more than a weekly fluff piece featuring Skip and Shannon playing soft toss with Parsons.