Though 'more complicated,' door open for Parsons' return to Penn State
Micah Parsons’ Cameo page features an uplifting message to an unknown recipient and an unmistakable biography with it.
Under his name and title, marked NFL Draft 2021 - Penn State University it says:
“Ex Penn State football player! On my way to the 2021 NFL DRAFT!”
Still, upon the announcement Wednesday that the Big Ten would play a fall football season in 2020, the urge to wonder was irresistible. Given the nature of his Aug. 4 opt-out of a third and final season with the Nittany Lions, and the Big Ten’s decision to postpone all fall sports on Aug. 11, would the All-American linebacker consider returning to the Nittany Lions?
Once BTN host Dave Revsine had Penn State head coach James Franklin on for an interview shortly after the announcement was made, junior tight end Pat Freiermuth making his own guest appearance to announce that he’d be back, Revsine didn’t hesitate to ask.
“Well, the great thing was Pat was downstairs, so I texted him and said ‘Hey, I'm about to be up on the Big Ten Network, so jump on with me.’ Micah is not as close as downstairs,” Franklin said. “I tried to reach out and have some fun with Micah.”
So did many, many other Nittany Lion fans wanting to see the Harrisburg native appear one last time as a Penn Stater, reaching out via Twitter and other social media avenues.
While Parsons played along, responding to Ross Tucker with a GIF of his own on Twitter, the reality presented by Franklin on Thursday afternoon suggested an uphill climb. Still, said Franklin, the door wasn’t shut.
“You always keep the door open. But um, yeah, I think there's obviously a big difference between somebody that opted out a week ago compared to somebody that opted out multiple weeks ago, it just, it makes it more complicated,” Franklin told reporters via Zoom. “It was pretty fun hitting Micah up right after it happened and watching all the fans go and crazy. So we'll see. We'll see how it all plays out but obviously it makes it more complicated the longer they've been gone.”
Parsons also tweeted out another hint Thursday evening. Just 15 minutes after Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade announced that he would be opting back in to play with his teammates, Parsons alluded that he has a tough decision make.
In Parsons’ case, that period has been nearly a month-and-a-half, but as Franklin suggested, some of the NCAA and Big Ten obstacles that would typically prevent a player from resuming their eligibility after turning professional might need to be reconsidered.
“Micah as well as others probably wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for the circumstances we're under. I don't think that anybody, the NCAA, the Big Ten, Penn State specifically, can just kind of put this back into the same box that it's always been in, because nothing right now is like it's always bee,” Franklin said. “So we'll see. As you know, I'm a positive guy so I'm going to try to see if there's a way we can work it out and get him back here if it's in everybody's best interest, most importantly Micah’s.”
Laying out that the communication had been an essential part of the process both for Parsons as well as for Freiermuth in their decisions to not return and return, respectively. Franklin added that other players would have similar processes. Though not specifying possibilities on the fence or not for returning to the program this season, Franklin said the process would be more complicated than demanding an immediate return to the program.
“I think in a perfect world you're right. I think you'd like to say okay who's in is in,” Franklin said. “But I just don't know if it's going to be that clean. We're just going to have to be flexible and make the best of it we possibly can.”
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