FRISCO, Texas — The last time Micah Parsons was inside AT&T Stadium, he drew attention by lying on a medical table behind the Dallas Cowboys’ bench in the third quarter of their preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons on Aug. 22.
It was only a brief time, but he also arrived at that stadium chowing down on nachos, and he was the only player not to wear his jersey on the sideline during the game.
On Sunday, Parsons returns to AT&T Stadium for the first time since the trade with the Green Bay Packers, and his former team is struggling defensively, allowing 30.7 points per game. In last week’s loss, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was not sacked for the first time in his career.
In Parsons’ first three games with the Packers (2-1), he has 1.5 sacks and six quarterback hurries while being credited with five tackles and a tackle for loss. But his presence has been a big part of the Packers allowing a league-low 14.7 points per game.
The trade of Parsons was almost as shocking as the Dallas Mavericks’ trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Mavericks’ fans were in a tizzy, putting together a mock funeral at American Airlines Center. Calls were made for general manager Nico Harrison’s job.
When Doncic returned to Dallas for the first time, the Mavericks compiled a tribute video that moved the star to tears before the game. Doncic, who led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals only months earlier, scored 45 points in the Lakers’ 112-97 win.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones, who engineered the Parsons trade, was asked if the Cowboys can prevent a Doncic-like return for him.
“I don’t know that we can,” Jones told ESPN. “Micah’s a great player. I’ll never forget when we didn’t draft Randy Moss, he came in here and scored about three, I think, 50-yard touchdowns and waved at us as he was running by the bench. This old stuff of retribution can get a little dicey sometimes.”
There will not be a tribute video for Parsons, the No. 12 pick in 2021, from the Cowboys.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate this way,” Jones said. “Emmitt [Smith] was a different story, but that’s not to diminish Micah. But I think Micah’s got enough ‘welcome’ out there and we just need to show we’ve got antidotes for that.”
Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, returned to Texas Stadium on Oct. 5, 2003, with the Arizona Cardinals. When Bill Parcells was named Cowboys coach, the decision was made to move on from Smith, despite playing 13 years in Dallas and helping the Cowboys win three Super Bowls in the 1990s.
In the Netflix documentary “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys,” Smith said he became emotional before kickoff as he walked into the visitor’s locker room.
“I see my locker — E. Smith 22, Cardinals jersey — and I’m just staring at it. And I say to myself, ‘I’m in the wrong place,'” Smith said. “And my teammates, my running back mates are sitting right beside me and I’m bawling. Crying like a baby. I was supposed to be over there [in the Cowboys’ locker room]. It broke my heart into a thousand pieces, and I realized right then and there that I could not separate the game of football from the Dallas Cowboys.”
Smith finished with minus-1 yard on six carries and suffered a broken shoulder after a hit by safety Roy Williams in a 24-7 loss to the Cowboys. Smith played one more year with the Cardinals but signed a ceremonial contract to retire as a Cowboy.
In 2023, the Cowboys played a tribute video when Ezekiel Elliott returned with the New England Patriots. Elliott spent the first seven years of his career with the Cowboys. He set a team rookie rushing record with 1,631 yards in 2016. He was named to the Pro Bowl three times. He left as the franchise’s third all-time leading rusher.
“I mean, I don’t have that much time to be too emotional,” Elliott said on a conference call with Dallas media before that game. “I’ve got to prepare for a game. I’ve got to go out put my best foot forward. I mean, there are emotions. I may do a good job of kind of hiding them, but there will be some emotions.”
Before kickoff, the video played on the center-hung digital board and led to loud cheers from the fans. Elliott watched and gave a quick wave to the crowd, while simulating his “feed me” celebration after it ended.
“I honestly wasn’t too emotional,” he said after the game. “I was locked in and focused on the game ahead.”
Elliott finished with 16 yards on six carries in what was the largest loss (38-3) then-Patriots coach Bill Belichick suffered in his NFL career.
By nature of position, Hall of Fame pass rusher DeMarcus Ware can relate to what Parsons will feel this week in a way.
In March 2024, the Cowboys released Ware, their all-time leader in sacks, largely for salary cap reasons. After signing a three-year, $30 million deal with the Denver Broncos, he was back at AT&T Stadium in August, but it was a preseason game and he did not play.
Before the game, his meetings with the Jerry Jones, executive vice president Stephen Jones and coaches was with all smiles. He hugged former teammate Jason Witten and spoke with offensive tackle Tyron Smith.
“It felt so much like home that I didn’t want to leave,” Ware said. “And even the crowd when I came out just for warmups, I mean all the fans were like, ‘D-Ware, we miss you.’ I was like, ‘Man, I thought the fans weren’t going to like me.'”
Ware spent nine years with the Cowboys. Seven times he was named to the Pro Bowl. Four times he was an All-Pro. He had 117 sacks.
“I didn’t want to leave, but I had no choice but to leave because of business things,” Ware said. “It was cool to come home. It was very heartfelt, and I felt like family. It wasn’t like the kid that just did something bad, and we didn’t want him at the house. It was like, this is temporary because we know you’re coming home.”
After three years with the Broncos, where he earned a Super Bowl ring, Ware returned with the same one-day contract as Smith to retire as a Cowboy. In 2023, he was added to the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor, the same year he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
If his return came in the regular season, Ware acknowledged things might have felt different.
“When I put the pads on, I know what I’m representing,” Ware said. “I’m representing not just a team, but I’m representing myself, my name. And I’m a warrior in the coliseum and I have to perform.”
Parsons, who played 67 games, including the playoffs for the Cowboys (1-2), still has plenty of friends on the other side. Fans were stunned that he was traded, although a percentage of them did not like the fact that he requested a trade.
Given the current state of the Cowboys defense, Parsons’ return will show what the Cowboys miss, although Jones believes the Cowboys can make the playoffs this season with what they got in return immediately (defensive tackle Kenny Clark) and contend in the future with the two first-round picks they also acquired.
“I really don’t know exactly how fans are going to be, but I do know this: At the state the Dallas Cowboys are and the state the fans are — because I’m a huge fan of the Dallas Cowboys — I don’t want to see the Green Bay Packers,” Ware said. “And I don’t care who plays for them. That’s just my mentality as a fan.”
And Parsons’ mentality?
“He’s coming here to, like, prove a point,” Ware said. “I know that for sure. He’s coming to prove a point, yeah, like Luka. I don’t think there will be any tears either.”