Micah Parsons defends Jets QB Zach Wilson after Rodney Harrison 'garbage' comments
New York Jets (1-3) quarterback Zach Wilson had arguably the game of his career in Week 4 Sunday night, albeit in a 23-20 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs (3-1).
Wilson, starting in place of the injured Aaron Rodgers, completed 28-of-39 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. A great game for Wilson, but not sufficient enough for NBC Sports analyst Rodney Harrison. During the post-show, Harrison was speaking with Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones, and openly bashed Wilson after the 29-year-old paid compliment to the former first-round pick.
“Watching that tape, man, you’ve gotta look at this dude and say, ‘Oh, he is garbage. Like we should really tear him apart,’” Harrison said to Jones. “But tonight, he came out and played extremely well against you guys.”
After Jones said Wilson was “special,” Harrison interrupted and pushed back.
“I think he had a special night, but I don’t think he’s special,” Harrison said. “He’s gotta prove that. You’re special because you’ve proved it over a course of time. He’s not special. I’m just saying, Chris.”
Micah Parsons chimes in on Rodney Harrison’s comments
Harrison caught heat for the comments from many players, including Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons. Parsons, speaking on his “The Edge” podcast Monday, called out Harrison for being overly harsh with his words.
“To me bro, that’s just not right,” Parsons said, via Awful Announcing. “I always keep my faith in God and I’m just gonna keep this real with you. I truly believe that we are not one judge. We cannot keep saying someone’s garbage, saying who’s special, who’s not special. Now, if you’re a really good football player — yes, Chris Jones is a really good football player. Is he a better player than Zach Wilson? Yes, but Chris has built himself upon that. We’re not giving that same courtesy as Zach Wilson. Let him grow. He’s continuing to get better each week and week out. And that’s just to me, that’s just a fraudulent move…
“I’m not the one to decide who’s special and who’s not special. Zach Wilson is special in his own way, bro. You can’t sit here and say, ‘Oh you look at the tape and he’s garbage.’ Like c’mon Rodney, like you didn’t even do that. You can say he’s not a [Patrick] Mahomes tier. Yeah, you can say that, you can’t say that he’s not a good quarterback. He’s a starting quarterback in the NFL… Bro, he’s a top-five pick. He got drafted that high for a reason. Let his traits and everything he do grow, bro.”
Micah Parsons gives message of support to Zach Wilson
Parsons later wished Wilson well, saying he hopes he proves all of his doubters wrong.
“Zach, I hope you win. I really hope you win. I hope you grow into the player that no one thinks that you can grow into bro, because there’s a lot of people that’s hating on you, brother. Hall of Famers, ex-pro players, which makes no sense. I get we all love the game of football, but at the end of the day, we have to remember that Zach is a human being. Zach is a human. We don’t use our platform to degrade other players. We use our platform to uplift people… Use our platform to talk good about people… Every person in this world just needs someone to believe in them, OK?”
Harrison has since apologized to Jets head coach Robert Saleh for the comments, per Andy Vasquez of NJ Advance Media. Saleh added his comments are “water under the bridge.”