Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons has a deal in place to appear every Tuesday on FS1’s Undisputed. A dispute has emerged regarding his failure to appear on the first Tuesday after Week One.
As explained by Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Parsons didn’t show up for the segment, even though he would have been participating from a studio in his house.
“I don’t understand why, after FS1 put the equipment in his house, he’d go radio silent,” Shannon Sharpe said on Tuesday’s show, via Hill. “Just say, ‘Look, at this point in time I just want to focus on football. I’m sorry to have led you guys on but right now football is the most important thing and I’m not gonna be able to do it right now.’”
People from the show tried to contact Parsons all day Monday and into Tuesday morning. They contend Parsons snubbed them.
Parsons explained to reporters his decision to not appear on the show.
“My starting QB went down and we lost,” Parsons said, per Hill. “I just didn’t think it was appropriate for me to be on the show at that point. I need to step up and be a leader. It shouldn’t be on TV, it should be in this locker room. This is where my focus should be right now.”
So who focused on letting FS1 know that he wouldn’t be appearing on the show?
“I got people that handle that type of stuff,” Parsons said. “If there was a miscommunication on that part, I will correct that. I have nothing but love for Skip and Shannon. I wouldn’t just no-show anybody like that. A man is only as good as his word.”
But he gave his word to do the show every Tuesday. They presumably are paying him to do it. If you’re going to agree to do it, you do it no matter what happened in the prior game — win, loss, controversial finish, injury, complaints about a chip block, whatever. Even though Parsons has only one season in the NFL, he surely realizes that all sorts of things can happen that would make a Tuesday media appearance something other than a feel-good victory lap.