Micah Parsons says social media killed Zach Wilson’s confidence
Being a quarterback in the NFL is very difficult, in part because players like Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons make a living off making life hell for them.
Though Parsons showed a change of heart and came to the aid of New York Jets’ Zach Wilson this week.
“A lot of you said you wanted to get rid of Zach Wilson, ya’ll shamed him, he got blamed by the media, he got blamed by everyone,” Parsons said. “Coach [Robert Saleh] said that was their best option at quarterback. And you thought, anybody can just play quarterback in the NFL, cause ya’ll think that quarterback is just the easiest job, which it’s not.”
Quote Via Awful Announcing
Listen, Wilson is not a very good NFL Quarterback. I’m not here to change your mind on that. But the guy is constantly at the mercy of social media, dating back to when he was drafted. It started with mostly positive PR, specifically in regards to his girlfriend and ability to get with attractive women.
But once the playing actually started, it went downhill very quickly, and Wilson quickly figured out the downside to playing for a New York sports team. When you win, there’s nothing like it; when you lose, it can be one of the worst environments to be in.
He just hasn’t found his footing within the league and has constantly struggled. Many thought he would take a step up this year and hold the fort down once Aaron Rodgers got hurt. That didn’t happen, and New York opted to start Tim Boyle for the last two weeks.
So much for that. It’s been a huge letdown season for the Jets, with Zach Wilson bearing the brunt of the blame from fans and social media. The New York media is ruthless, and Micah Parsons touched on this, partly blaming New York media for his downfall.
“He’s in New York … New York media, you guys deliberately killed this man’s confidence,” Parsons said. “Ya’ll single-handedly broke him down.”
Quote Via Awful Announcing
Now, I’m not gonna say that social media is the only thing that led to Wilson’s downfall. When you are an NFL quarterback, you have to be able to deal with criticism. There are millions of people watching with millions of opinions. Most will be stupid, and you simply have to ignore them.
Wilson simply can’t hack it as a starting NFL quarterback, and that’s okay. But it is also fair to say that social media did him no favors. It can’t feel good to go on your phone every day and see countless personalities on TV saying you shouldn’t have a job.
The clip of Rodney Harrison straight-up calling Wilson garbage was uncalled for. He didn’t play badly that game, but even if he did, it was certainly over the top. He was begging Chris Jones to also admit he was garbage, with Jones instead deciding to defend Wilson, testing he played a good game.
Hell, Joe Namath even took time out of his day to go on the record to say he was done with Zach Wilson. Namath is basically a god to Jets fans, so being publically outcast by him is a death sentence.
Those kinds of things take a toll on even the strongest-minded person over time, and I think it fair to say it certainly had some effect on his bad play. Mental health in sports is no joke, and we, as fans, sometimes forget that.
Parsons did end it on a bit of a happier note, pointing out that Wilson still has time to change his narrative.
“If I’m Zach, and you know this team may move on from me, you have this narrative that is painted against you, and you have this opportunity to fix it,” he said. “That’s the beautiful thing about life.”
Quote Via Awful Announcing
It certainly hasn’t been an ideal start to Zach Wilson’s career. But he is 24-years-old and has time to improve. Some team will pick him up for a cheap contract and probably stash him as a backup. It’s a role I think he can actually do well in under the right circumstances.
So yes, Wilson is a bad starting QB. But he has also had it pretty rough in terms of the PR department. It’s far from the only thing that affected Wilson’s play, but it would be crazy to say it didn’t play a part at all.
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