Dallas Cowboys defensive back Malik Hooker recently offered some advice to star linebacker and teammate Micah Parsons pertaining to his podcast and focus on the team, and Parsons was not happy about it.
Hooker was a guest on the “All Facts No Brakes with Keyshawn Johnson Podcast” and seemed to question Parsons' focus when it comes to his own podcast and the actual team.
“My advice for Micah would be just make sure we’re alright,” he said. “Because if we’re at work and and the run game’s terrible but you’re doing a podcast every week and you know the run game is terrible then what are you really caring about? Are you caring about the crowd that was watching the podcast or are you caring about the success of our team and the Super Bowl that we’re trying to reach?”
Parsons wasn't thrilled with the comment and took to X to respond, saying Hooker should have said this to him in private as opposed to in public.
“Just wish you said this to me but instead on some podcast! And you got my number family! @MalikHooker24 and you my locker mate!” Parsons said before deleting the post. “So you coulda said this any day! And you do realize I shoot the podcast on our off day! I why ain’t we talking about everyone preparations and focus.”
Not only did Parsons delete the tweet, his account seems to have been deactivated entirely as of this writing.
Parsons hosts "The Edge with Micah Parsons" on Bleacher Report, something he did during the 2023 campaign. And while the Cowboys ultimately failed to achieve their goal of winning a Super Bowl, Parsons had yet another stellar regular season for himself, further cementing his status as one of the league's best defenders.
When Hooker talks about the "run game," he's likely referring to the Cowboys' defense, which surrendered 112.4 rushing yards per game in 2023 before being dominated on the ground by the Green Bay Packers in the playoff loss. Parsons totaled just two tackles in that contest.
Whether right or wrong, Hooker should have kept his advice to Parsons in-house as opposed to saying it on a podcast. Taking the route he did has now turned this into a public spat that could create a distraction for the team moving forward.
