Former Penn State LB Micah Parsons blew up Twitter Thursday.
In response to the news of women’s basketball star Brittney Griner being released from Russian prison, Parsons, now a Dallas Cowboy and one of the NFL’s best players, tweeted this:
”Wait nah!! We left a marine?!! Hell nah!”
The marine Parsons referred to is Paul Whelan, who wasn’t part of the exchange for Griner and the “Merchant of Death,” Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Parsons subsequently walked back the initial Tweet and revised his stance on the matter.
Naturally, the people of Twitter had split opinions about the matter. Some agreed with Parsons, others didn’t. Some who disagreed respected him for walking it back. Some who agreed with Parsons thought he was soft for walking it back. Overall, the Tweet won’t impact Parsons’s football career.
But it did get a lot of people talking. Here’s what some of those people had to say.
there’s a lot micah parsons can teach about being an elite defensive player, but there’s also a lot micah parsons has yet to learn about international politics and context https://t.co/BGp3jwppxU
— mike taddow (@MikeTaddow) December 8, 2022
That Micah Parsons tweet was insane but the jokes have been hilarious. They called that man Pass Rush Limbaugh and Maga Parsons and I’m dying laughing
— Bushido Boose (@SenseiBoose) December 8, 2022
Well said! #bebetter #merica https://t.co/OIOL8HtVW3
— Joey Halser (@HalserJoey) December 8, 2022
Stupid fucking tweet. No we didn't leave a Marine. The Russians ARRESTED a Marine and Trump did nothing about it. Republicans said nothing about it. Now to try and deflect and complain of course right wing assholes are shitting on Brittany Griner. https://t.co/pCu9WKvN81
— Texas Paul Schroder (@Paultx890) December 9, 2022
Micah Parsons when he saw Brittany Griner coming home: pic.twitter.com/My3ftit1Ra
— Colb (@___Colb___) December 8, 2022
I don’t care what y’all say…Micah Parsons now has the best nicknames in all of sport. MAGA Parsons is okay. NRA Lewis is good. Tackle Carlson is great. But fam….Pass Rush Limbaugh is ELITE….🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣😂😂
— 13-0 SEC CHAMPS Mbye Njie #GoDawgs (@mnjie) December 8, 2022
Nick Bosa seeing Micah Parsons get labeled “Pass Rush Limbaugh”
pic.twitter.com/PFcHcGm16Z— Peter Scattini (@jpscattini) December 8, 2022
I’ve been laughing for 5 minutes at these Micah Parson nicknames, but Tackle Carlson and Pass Rush Limbaugh will be on my spirit all day.
— Part-time Soccer Expert (WorldCupSZN🇺🇸) (@FondofHOUsports) December 8, 2022
I always knew Micah Parsons was a MAGA patriot.
— Nick Adams (Alpha Male) (@NickAdamsinUSA) December 8, 2022
Micah Parsons would be an alpha male if he didn’t apologize for being a patriot.
— Nick Adams (Alpha Male) (@NickAdamsinUSA) December 8, 2022
I stand by MAGA Micah Parsons, he should not have apologized for his remarks.
— Nick Adams (Alpha Male) (@NickAdamsinUSA) December 8, 2022
They tried to cancel Parsons for THIS and forced him to apologize. These people are insane. Also, he's a grown man who should've stood up for himself. https://t.co/2EAPqwt4Uh
— Chris Paul (@imyourmoderator) December 8, 2022
We??? Jerry Jones got you tweeting like Stephen from Django https://t.co/cVtVINcaLa
— lor ry (@_theghettomonk) December 8, 2022
Jerry Jones is prob going to triple his signing bonus for tweeting this https://t.co/0qE6cLfYmK
— Sean (@RealitySean1) December 8, 2022
This is why today is so weird for sports. Athletes given a megaphone to react real time to news without properly understanding situations. Imagine how we would perceive the greats like LT and Joe Namath if they had Twitter. Guarantee Namath would be cancelled immediately haha. https://t.co/OBym8hWYON pic.twitter.com/Q7cK9f6dMM
— just_some_dude (PARODY) (@nygiants_letsgo) December 8, 2022
Apologize for what? Wanting a soldier home too? Your PR team is doing too much. https://t.co/aWlfdUm7Cv
— Chris Lopez – MFFL 🏀 (@MavsManiaac84) December 8, 2022
More people should be like @MicahhParsons11 – having a gut reaction that the U.S. should have gotten the Marine out first is totally understandable. But it's not an accurate take. Learning, acknowledging, growing – good job, Micah. https://t.co/3sZmWHbvgO
— Jason DeRusha (@DeRushaJ) December 8, 2022
Cliff notes: “I’m a gutless wonder.” https://t.co/QEdTNF3ijR
— Ned Ryun (@nedryun) December 8, 2022
Impossible, you must be a fan of one or the other. If you aren't out jumping for joy about everything Joe Biden has done, you must be a Trumper. And vice versa. Sincerely, Pea Brained Americans…..
— Paul Zeise (@PaulZeise) December 8, 2022
Young man you are a great football player on your way. You don’t need to score brownie points to prove you’re with the other side. If you wanna get into public speaking about the issues start with your owner don’t give that Sambo response like your quarterback.
— Luther Luke Campbell (@unclelukereal1) December 9, 2022
Stop digging. Put the damn phone down! Now you’re a hostage expert.
You took this time to let the world know you don’t like Biden when BG is coming home.
— Gee Scott Sr. (@GeeScottSr) December 8, 2022
Slow down my guy, you got too much dip on your chip. You should ask questions instead of making assumptions. The last two administrations have put forth great effort to bring home our Marine and will continue. He should be home. Today is also a day we should rejoice. https://t.co/1edAdDoCKo
— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) December 8, 2022
He said something controversial, was given more information & then accepted that he'd said something he regretted.
A lot of people could learn from that…— Jamison 🐧 (@jtgensler) December 9, 2022
Micah Parsons didn’t even say anything about the Jerry Jones pictures but vocal as hell about a Black woman being free pic.twitter.com/ZGmCH6PA6E
— Logistics Leader (@Chiefkeith94) December 8, 2022
He's entitled to his own opinion just like all the people complaining about what he said.
— Nate Elder (@NateElder) December 9, 2022
