Saturday's Broncos-Cardinals preseason matchup took a turn for the farcical on NFL Network when the broadcast aired a fake quote from Micah Parsons in the wake of Parsons's trade request.
Parsons released a statement earlier this month demanding a trade from the Cowboys amid stalled contract negotiations, leading many fans to speculate whether the star pass-rusher would actually get dealt before the start of the 2025 NFL season. One Broncos fan went so far as to spread a fake quote from Parsons that has since gone viral—to the point where even NFL Network picked it up.
During a break in action in the Broncos-Cardinals game, the NFL Network broadcast aired a quote in which Parsons revealed his "dream destination" was Denver. The only problem was, Parsons never said it.
"My dream destination? Denver. I would love to play for the Broncos. They already got the best defense in the league and they have a real chance at a Super Bowl," the quote from Parsons read, attributed to his The Edge podcast (which hasn't released any new episodes for six months).
NFL Network sideline reporter Cynthia Frelund was asked to do some in-game analysis and was doing just fine until the quote graphic popped up. That then segued into a roughly one-minute-long segment about the Broncos' Super Bowl hopes in 2025:
I had to dig up this clip to make sure it was 100% real and the clip makes it even funnier. They had a whole report set up and everything for something Micah Parsons never said.
— Chase Snyder (@ChasingSnyder) August 17, 2025
Broncos producers should be embarrassed. I’m cackling. https://t.co/5Z1l4TsrG2 pic.twitter.com/kYdUcaD8Xs
A little fact-checking sometimes goes a long way.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Network Gets Bamboozled by Fake Micah Parsons Quote During Broncos-Cardinals Game.
