The beef between Cowboys teammates Malik Hooker and Micah Parsons is over . . . unless it isn’t.
During the offseason, Hooker publicly questioned Parsons’ devotion to his podcast, prompting Parsons to post and then delete an angry rebuttal. Hooker and Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said at training camp this week that there is no issue between Parsons and Hooker.
Parsons, though, didn’t sound as if he’s dropped it.
“It’s just one of those things. It is what it is. What people do in their free time, that’s what they do,” Parsons said Friday, via Joseph Hoyt of lonestarlive.com. “I know what I do in my free time, so make sure you’re hopping on ‘The Edge’ if you’ve got a chance on Monday or Tuesday nights. What he does on his Monday and Tuesday nights when he’s not in the building, that’s on him. What I do, that’s me and my business and my family, so I’m going to keep it at that.
“It’s no misunderstanding. It’s plain as day what it was. It is what it is, everything we said. I’m just ready to move on and get ready for the season.”
Parsons’ podcast, “The Edge with Micah Parsons,” on Bleacher Report was taped on Tuesdays during the season. His role with the company will expand after Parsons was named president of B/R Gridiron, its football subsection.
Parsons’ parting shot came a month after Hooker went on Keyshawn Johnson’s podcast and offered unsolicited advice to Parsons.
“My advice for Micah would be just make sure we’re alright,” Hooker said on the podcast. “Because if we’re at work 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 responded on social media, tagging Hooker, asking why Hooker didn’t call him to talk on the phone rather than go public.
Hooker indicated Friday that his comment was blown out of proportion, and that everything was good between he and Parsons.
“People that have been around and know me genuinely know that I’m not a guy who says anything to harm or affect anybody because I’m a team-first guy,” Hooker said. “It is what it is. They took it as what it is. Like I said, me and Micah aren’t worried about it. We have the same goal and we’re out here competing and trying to make the defense better in whatever we can.”