Few bogeymen in sports have been as omnipresent throughout history as the opaque, hazily defined "New York media."
The spotlight of the Big Apple’s press has played a supporting role in many of the cities’ most cherished athletes’ careers: Babe Ruth, Joe Namath, Tom Seaver, and Derek Jeter, to name a few. The flip side of this equation is that struggles in New York resonate much more across the country than elsewhere.
Hence the saga of Jets quarterback Zach Wilson, who, three years ago, enjoyed all the status at BYU an eighth-place finish in Heisman voting affords. In 2023, Wilson has ranked among the league’s least effective quarterbacks and garnered widespread criticism.
Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, however, jumped to Wilson's defense on Tuesday's episode of his eponymous podcast.
"He got blamed by the media, he got blamed by everyone," Parsons said of Wilson. "Coach (Robert Saleh) said that was their best option at quarterback. And y'all thought anyone could just play quarterback in the NFL."
Micah Parsons calls out the media on their criticism of Zach Wilson 🗣️
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 6, 2023
(via The Edge with @MicahhParsons11) pic.twitter.com/ghSZo1DehH
Ferrying in and out of first-string duty, Wilson has thrown six touchdowns against seven interceptions in 10 games.
"New York's huge at football, New York media, and you guys deliberately killed this guy's confidence," Parsons said. "Y'all singlehandedly broke him down."
