Whoever said that the NFL Pro Bowl Games was a light-hearted, unserious event clearly didn’t send the memo to Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons and Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku.
The two Pro Bowlers engaged in a back-and-forth debate during a side event Saturday in Orlando after Parsons took a shot at the Browns.
“Cleveland is Cleveland,” Parsons said.
Njoku, making his first-career Pro Bowl appearance, took exception to Parsons’ comment, and fired one back at “America’s Team.”
“One thing you gotta understand is he said, ‘Cleveland is Cleveland,’ but we’re both here [at the Pro Bowl],” Njoku said. “Like, were both playing the Madden game. So, you gotta make it make sense. … So, what you say? Cleveland is Cleveland and Dallas is Dallas?”
Parsons, the now three-time Pro Bowler, didn’t seem willing to go along with the “Dallas is Dallas” tagline. But by then, host Charissa Thompson had moved the conversation along.
Micah Parsons opens up on Cowboys’ playoff defeat
It should be noted that the Browns have never hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. In fact, they’re one of four teams to have never appeared in a Super Bowl. While recent history has been kinder to Cleveland — they made the playoffs in 2023 after going 11-6 — the franchise has long been the brunt of all jokes.
The Cowboys know the feeling as well, as it’s been nearly three decades since the franchise has won a Super Bowl championship. Dallas has gone 12-5 in three consecutive seasons, but only has one playoff win to show for it.
The latest playoff disappointment came in the NFC Wild Card Round, a 48-32 defeat to the Green Bay Packers inside AT&T Stadium. Parsons struggled to make an impact in the game, making just two tackles (one solo) and one quarterback hit. 17 days after the loss, Parsons finally spoke out on the Cowboys’ season coming to an abrupt end. Parsons admitted he “disappeared completely.”
“It’s that you [the Cowboys] lose the way you do and at home,” Parsons said on his “The Edge with Micah Parsons” podcast Wednesday, via CBS Sports. “We had talked about how much [better] we had played at home, how much it stood for us to be at home and then to go like that at home was completely embarrassing and unacceptable. I couldn’t even look at that loss or feel any type of way because of how embarrassed I felt It took me a while to even show my face in public. I disappeared completely.”
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