Micah Parsons

Micah Aaron Parsons (born May 26, 1999) is an American football defensive end and linebacker for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Micah Parsons
Penn State Nittany Lions – No. 11
PositionDefensive end / linebacker
ClassSophomore
Career history
College
Bowl games
High schoolHarrisburg (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
Personal information
Born: (1999-05-26) May 26, 1999
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career highlights and awards
  • USA Today High School All-US (2017)
  • American Family Insurance Defensive Player of the Year (2017)
  • First-team Freshman All-American (2018)
  • Big Ten Linebacker of the Year (2019)
  • First Team All-American (2019)
  • First Team All-Big Ten (2019)
  • Cotton Bowl Defensive MVP (2019)

Early years

Parsons was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. He grew up playing football at Sunshine Park. For his freshman and sophomore years, Parsons attended Central Dauphin High School. In his sophomore year, Parsons committed to Penn State, but later decommitted to look at other options. For his junior year, Parsons transferred to Harrisburg High School where he started at both defensive end and running back. In his senior year, Parsons rushed for 1,239 yards and 27 touchdowns. He racked up ​9 1⁄2 sacks and one interception.[1] Parsons also played varsity basketball.[2]

He was a five-star recruit and was ranked #4 in his class by 247Sports.com and #7 by ESPN.[3][4][5] Parsons was recruited by Nebraska, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama and Penn State. On December 19, The Lantern reported that Ohio State had committed NCAA violations because the university allowed him on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay to take a picture with analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Due to the fact that Herbstreit was a former Ohio State University quarterback, a violation of NCAA Bylaws 13.10.1 and 13.10.2.4 occurred, as recruits are not allowed to have contact with members of the media associated with former student-athletes. As a result, Ohio State agreed to no longer recruit Parsons.[6]

Parsons formally committed to Pennsylvania State University on December 20, 2017 and graduated Harrisburg High School seven months early in order to enroll early at Penn State.[7][8][9]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
Micah Parsons
DE, LB		 Harrisburg, PA Harrisburg HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 4.66 Dec 20, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 91
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

    College career

    After committing to Penn State, Parsons was informed by head coach James Franklin that he would start his Penn State career at middle linebacker rather than defensive end, which he played in high school. Franklin also announced that Parsons would be in contention for the starting job even though he was a true freshman.[10]

    Freshman Year

    In his freshman year, Parsons only started one game for the Nittany Lions, but managed to lead the team in tackles with 82. He became the first Nittany Lion to ever lead the team in tackles as a freshman.

    Sophomore Year

    Prior to the start of the season, Parsons was named to the Butkus Award Preseason watch list. In his sophomore year, Parsons recorded 109 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 deflected passes and 3 forced fumbles. Parsons went on to be named the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year and a consensus All-American.[11] Parsons had a dominating performance in the 2019 Cotton Bowl Classic and was named the Defensive MVP of the game. Parsons recorded 14 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.

    References
    1. "Micah Parsons' High School Football Stats". MaxPreps.com.
    2. "Penn State commit, Harrisburg star Micah Parsons throws down monster dunk".
    3. "Penn State". 247Sports.
    4. "After Ohio State incident, Parsons picks PSU".
    5. "Micah Parsons plans to enroll at Penn State by January 8; final Harrisburg High game next week". PennLive.com. December 22, 2017.
    6. "Buckeyes report offense with recruit, GameDay".
    7. "Five-star DE Micah Parsons commits to Penn State".
    8. "Micah Parsons signs with Penn State: 5-star recruit returns to Lions class". 20 December 2017.
    9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-12-23. Retrieved 2017-12-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    10. "Micah Parsons will start Penn State career as a linebacker, James Franklin says". 20 December 2017.
    11. Donohue, Tyler (21 December 2019). "Micah Parsons named consensus All-American: 'It's a good start'". 24/7sports. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
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