OXNARD, Calif. — Through the first two weeks of training camp, a determined mindset overcomes anyone who talks to Micah Parsons.
Whether it's him talking about his offseason improvements, the expectations that he has set for himself or the expectations he has for this season, confidence exudes from the third-year linebacker for what's ahead.
That confidence translated into him pushing the limit this offseason on what he can accomplish off the field, taking his training to Austin to set a personal regimen to somehow eclipse his already stellar first two seasons in the NFL.
"Just challenging myself and pushing myself to the limits," Parsons said. "I think every day is a game and every day is a chance to work my craft. Every day is important."
That work has created improvements in every part of his game, Parsons says, as he looks to become even more of a complete pass rusher and football player in 2023.
"My hands, my footwork, my eyes, what I'm looking at," he said about his improvements. "Obviously my experience has played a huge part as well. The conditioning, the tempo, that's the key part. I can play like seven, eight quarters. I can play two games if I need to."
One could ask, with two All-Pro seasons already under his belt and a defensive output through two years that has rarely been seen in NFL history, why would Parsons wake up at five in the morning every day in the offseason to get better than the fantastic product that already exists?
It's about a chase not only for greatness, but for unique greatness.
"I got a testimony of where I want to be with my faith in God," he said. "When you talk about great careers, you talk about the Hall of Fame, but I don't think I want to just make the Hall of Fame. I want to be one of the great Hall of Famers. There's categories to everything. There's great, and then there's perfect."
What does that look like for Parsons? Even though he is self-acclaimed "uncomparable" given his positional versatility, he sees careers from the game's past that he is trying to model as he gears up to hit his NFL prime.
"To me, a guy like Lawrence Taylor, Jerry Rice, Primetime, Michael Strahan," he said. "They all had a legendary season, they all had a legendary thing about them, broken records. Really just set the tone to be a primetime player. They set the tone on how to be great and separate themselves from others."
Included in that greatness for Parsons includes a Super Bowl, and it's something that he wants to see accomplished for himself and the people around him to fulfill the greatness that he seeks.
"I think those rings and those moments where your best player steps up, it leads and carries and brings everyone else around you," Parsons said. "There's just no better moment in any sport, no matter what it is. There are people that have had great careers, but without that Super Bowl, man… that Super Bowl carries so much weight."
