WATCH: Kyle Pitts, Micah Parsons set to renew high school rivalry this weekend
When the Atlanta Falcons travel to Texas to face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, it’ll be a reunion of sorts for Kyle Pitts and Micah Parsons. The two are used to competing with one another, despite never having faced in the NFL or college.
Pitts and Parsons are both Pennsylvania natives; Pitts went to Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, Pennsylvania, where he went on to become a four-star recruit for the university of Florida. Parsons, on the other hand, attended Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and he stayed in-state as a five-star recruit for Penn State. The two have a rivalry that dates back to high school, when Pitts’ Archbishop Wood team defeated Parsons’ Harrisburg team in the Pennsylvania state championship.
“Kyle Pitts beat me in the state championship my junior year of high school, we went against each other,” Parsons said. “So, me and Kyle have a rivalry going on.”
“I knew him since high school, we’ve been in camps together,” Pitts said, to which Parsons responded, “Kyle Pitts is my nemesis.”
Parsons, now a linebacker for the Cowboys, wasn’t the same player in high school. Pitts was honest in his recollection that Parsons was “the best [running back] in the state at the time,” but Pitts added, “when we played, he only had 23 yards. He probably didn’t tell you that.”
Parsons in the same video claimed it was more than 30, suggesting that Pitts “look the stats up.”
Many years later, the high school rivalry is renewed on the biggest stage.
Pitts is currently a rookie tight end for the Atlanta Falcons, who selected the athletic tight end with the fourth-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Through eight games, Pitts has 36 receptions for 546 passing yards and a touchdown. Pitts played three historic seasons with the Florida Gators; in 2020, he won the Mackey Award, given annually to the nation’s top tight end, while being named a unanimous All-American. In both his sophomore and junior seasons, he was named to the Coaches’ All-SEC first team and the Associated Press All-SEC first team. He finished his Florida as the program’s all-time leader in receiving yards for a tight end, finishing with 100 receptions, 1,492 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.
Parsons put together an impressive three-year career of his own at Penn State, where he was named a consensus All-American, too. Parsons was taken off the board just below Pitts, going in the first round, with the 12th-overall pick. While with the Cowboys, Parsons has tallied 65 tackles and 3.5 sacks in his rookie season.