STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WHTM) – In the weekly Penn State football press conference on Tuesday Head Coach James Franklin expressed how pleased he is with who Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons has become.

“I wish we had him for that third year rather than canceling the football season, said Franklin. “But I’m proud of him. I’m really proud of him for a lot of different reasons. Football is one of them, but it’s a small one.”

According to Franklin, the former Penn State player has succeeded in setting a positive example for current college football players by how he conducts himself, especially when it comes to finances.

“I see on social media how frugal [Parsons] is,” Franklin said. “I love that. I’m a supporter of NIL, very much so, but I also worry that it sets up unrealistic expectations of how hard it is to earn a dollar.”

Franklin spoke about the Harrisburg natives’ interest outside of football as well and how Parsons is a well-rounded individual. Franklin said Parsons is a serious bowler and loves to play chess when he isn’t on the field.

“[Parsons] believes that he can be a professional bowler,” Franklin said.

Parsons also supported other athletic programs outside of football while he was at Penn State. According to Franklin, Parsons was a huge supporter of the wrestling program.

“You would not find a bigger supporter of our wrestling program because he loved how
competitive they were, what Cael [Sanderson] has built here,” Franklin said. “He worked out with those guys.”

Parsons came back to his old stomping grounds in State College a couple of weeks ago to visit the current Nittany Lions to continue his support of Penn State athletics.

“He came and spoke to the team two weeks ago and just did a phenomenal job,” Franklin said. “He talked about the game, but talked specifically about Penn State and this community.”

Franklin stated that he and current Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry, former Penn State defensive coordinator, a “heartfelt” message.

“He’s growing up to be a really well-rounded individual,” Franklin said. “Although he’s having a ridiculous amount of success when it comes to football, I think that’s going to be just a small part of Micah’s story. I’m very proud of him.”

Parsons is currently 10th all-time in sacks for the Dallas Cowboys with 29.5 sacks.

This season Parsons has three sacks across two games with seven tackles, six of which were solo.

This week, Parsons and the Cowboys will travel to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday while Penn State takes on the Iowa Hawkeyes at home for the annual White Out.