Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy weighs in on Micah Parsons-Lawrence Taylor comparisons: ‘It’s a huge compliment’

FRISCO, Texas — The Lawrence Taylor-Micah Parsons comparisons have been in full force since training camp when Parsons compared his “positionless” style of play to Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks while mentioning Taylor. Parsons, who is only the sixth player with 10 multi-sack games within their first three seasons, has since been put in the same conversation as Taylor by CBS Sports’ lead play-play-announcer Jim Nantz while his Week 4 opponent, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, said he wouldn’t “put anybody ahead of Lawrence Taylor, not yet.” 

Taylor — a 10-time Pro Bowl selection, eight-time First-Team All-Pro, two-time Super Bowl champion and 1986 NFL MVP (the last defensive player to win the award) — currently has a much larger and great body work than Parsons, who has earned Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro selections in each of his first two seasons. His current head coach, Mike McCarthy — who has been an NFL coach for the last 30 years — deferred to Belichick as the expert on the topic given Belichick coached Taylor for six seasons as the New York Giants defensive coordinator from 1985-1990. 

“I was never on the field with Lawrence Taylor,” McCarthy said Wednesday. “I got in [the NFL] in 1993 and that was the very end of his career. I do remember meeting at the Pro Bowl in 1993. I just think … Coach Belichick would know Lawrence Taylor better than anybody. A phenomenal player. Just the fact that as a young player Micah is and has put excellent tape out there. To be mentioned in that realm is a huge compliment.”

Belichick’s compliment to Parsons will likely manifest itself in the form of many double teams on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.