Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys' Micah Parsons Named PFWA Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year

Awards voted on by the Professional Football Writers of America

Dallas Cowboys player Micah Parsons is collecting more trophies. The rookie linebacker has been named PFWA's Rookie of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Parsons, the 12th selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, played in and started 16 games in his rookie season. In those games, he had 13 sacks and tied for an NFL-best 20 tackles for a loss. He had 59 solo tackles and another 20 tackles were assisted. He also forced three fumbles.

The PFWA said Parsons is the third Cowboys player selected as their Rookie of the Year (Tony Dorsett in 1977, Ezekiel Elliott in 2016) and the first to receive Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who was third in receiving touchdowns with 13 and fourth in receiving yards with 1,455, the most ever by a rookie in the Super Bowl era, was named the 2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year.

After the selections were announced, Parsons tweeted a simple one-line message to his fans on Twitter.

The winner is selected by a vote of the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA). Here is more on the writers' selection from PFWA.

Parsons, the 12th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Penn State, played in 16 games (all starts), set a Cowboys rookie record, and led all NFL rookies with 13 sacks. The 13 sacks tied for the third-most by an NFL rookie since the stat became official in 1982. He became only the second rookie since 1999 to post 13 sacks and 20 tackles for loss, along with Indianapolis’ Dwight Freeney (2002). Parsons had three multi-sack games, including 2.5 vs. Denver on November 7. He recorded a full sack in six straight games – one of three rookies with a full sack credited n at least six consecutive games since 1982. His 20 tackles for loss tied for the league lead and was the most TFL for a Cowboys linebacker since Sean Lee had 13 in 2017. He played 301 run defense snaps, 307 pass-rush snaps, and 284 pass coverage snaps during the season, and he was credited by Pro Football Focus with 67 quarterback pressures (ninth in the NFL). Parsons was selected NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month in both November and December and the Week 8 NFC Defensive Player of the Week. He was the only rookie named to the 2021 PFWA All-NFL team, and he also was a PFWA All-NFC selection.

Contact Us