Micah Parsons Goes From Hero To Zero After Walking Back His Criticism Of Joe Biden For Brittney Griner Prisoner Swap: A Timeline

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Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons reacted to the news of Brittney Griner being released from a Russian prison by sharing his personal opinion on Twitter. Not everyone on Twitter agreed with his opinion, so the inevitable outcome unfolded shortly thereafter — Parsons issued an apology he probably doesn't believe.

Griner, originally arrested in February, pleaded guilty to drug charges in July and was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison. The WNBA star was released on Thursday in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, who is also known as 'The Merchant of Death.'

Parsons, like millions of other Americans, was upset about the situation.

Micah Parsons Quickly Bowed To Twitter Mob

Parsons wasn't angry that Griner was finally coming home after wrongfully being detained, but instead took issue with the fact that the Joe Biden administration seemed to have prioritized freeing a WNBA player before Ret. U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Whelan has been detained in Russia since December 2018 after being accused of spying.

Like so many others did, Parsons jumped on Twitter to point out how ridiculous it is that a former Marine is still being held in Russia.

Twitter/MicahhParsons11

If Parsons stopped there, he likely would have escaped the wrath of the mob. But he didn't. He took things a step further.

After letting his initial tweet marinate for 44 minutes, Parsons took a direct shot at Biden. He quote-tweeted the President and wrote "We still not voting for you!" in a since-deleted tweet.

Twitter/MicahhParsons11

Parsons' tweet saying he wasn't voting for Biden was of course interpreted by the mob as 'Parsons is a MAGA Trump supporter.'

You can probably guess what came next. Pass Rush Limbaugh and MAGA Parsons began trending on Twitter.

Parsons waited 42 minutes before starting the apology process, which to his credit, is a lot longer than most other soft professional athletes would have waited.

He needed to let the record show that he’s “the furthest thing from a Trump supporter” but “not a fan of Biden either.”

Twitter/MicahhParsons11

After Parsons inevitably dove into his mentions and saw losers still continuing to attack him, he completed his bending of the knee and admitted his "mistake" 37 minutes later.

All in all, Parsons went from being a hero for those who believe in free speech and the sharing of opinions to the latest professional athlete to cater to the mob in two hours and three minutes.

Twitter/MicahhParsons11

A 'Mistake' Was Not Made

Parsons wrote himself that he "tweeted out of emotion," which isn't making a mistake, it's just being a human being.

The only mistake here is Parsons apologizing for something that didn't warrant an apology.

All the man did was show support for freeing a wrongfully detained man who served his country and then write that he doesn't plan on voting for Biden if he runs for President again.

The people that forced Parsons' apology hate everything America stands for, so, sadly, this story ended exactly as expected.

Maybe one day we'll see a professional athlete stand by an opinion the mob doesn't agree with, but we can go ahead and scratch Parsons' name off the list of potential suitors.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.