GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Micah Parsons says he expects to get a warm reception from Dallas Cowboys fans Sunday night when the superstar edge rusher faces his former team for the first time since the Green Bay Packers acquired him.
“I think Dallas loves me,” Parsons said Wednesday. “I think they’re going to give me a good round of applause. There’s no hard feelings there, at least from me.”
Parsons attempted to downplay Sunday night’s matchup as much as he possibly could, considering his contract dispute with the Cowboys (1-2) and subsequent trade to Green Bay was one of the biggest NFL stories of the summer.
The Packers (2-1) sent three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to Dallas in the Aug. 28 trade that got them Parsons, who had 52 1/2 sacks in four seasons with the Cowboys. Green Bay gave Parsons a four-year, $188 million contract with $136 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
Now he’s back at AT&T Stadium for one night trying to help the Packers beat his old team. Parsons figures to get plenty of cheers from at least one section of the stadium, since he still owns a suite that will be filled Sunday with his friends and relatives.
“I just feel like it’s just going to be another game for me,” Parsons said. “Obviously got a lot of ties there, but I think the atmosphere is going to be great. I kind of know what a (Dallas)-Green Bay game looks like — and I know the fanbase is going to be pretty rowdy, so I’m just excited for a competitive matchup in Sunday night prime football.”
Parsons had at least 12 sacks each of his four seasons in Dallas. He has 1 1/2 sacks his first three games in Green Bay, and the attention he gets from opposing offenses creates opportunities for all the Packers’ other pass rushers.
For instance, Rashan Gary has an NFL-leading 4 1/2 sacks in his first season as Parsons’ teammate.
Parsons still keeps in touch with plenty of Cowboys.
He says he checks in with cornerback Trevon Diggs at least once a week and that he recently tried to boost the spirits of wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who left the Cowboys' 31-14 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday with a high ankle sprain.
Speaking earlier this week about this matchup, Parsons noted how sacking Dak Prescott would be “painful” because he considers the Dallas quarterback a mentor.
One person he hasn't communicated with lately is Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“I never even heard from Jerry Jones himself when I got traded," Parsons said. "I found out through my agent. I haven’t talked to Jerry Jones since like, what OTAs (organized team activities)? It’s just one of those things.”
Jones said this week the Cowboys didn't plan to have any sort of video tribute to Parsons on Sunday and indicated it wouldn't be appropriate.
Parsons was asked Wednesday what he thought about Jones' comment.
“There’s a lot of things I can consider disrespectful throughout this process, but I wouldn’t say the (lack of a) tribute is one of them,” Parsons said. “I would say, I just think there’s hard feelings maybe there for them, but for me, I’m happy where I’m at and we got a really good football team, so I guess I can (receive) my tribute in a win, I hope.”
Parsons had kinder words for Dallas' offensive linemen. Parsons said they were “like brothers to me” and talked about the way he took them under his wing.
“It’s funny because I spent all training camp helping these guys and teaching them how to block me, just things like that,” Parsons said.
Cowboys left tackle Tyler Guyton says Parsons did indeed help him quite a bit.
“I kind of looked up to him for guidance, and he showed me a lot,” Guyton said. “We battled a little bit, and got better from it.”
They'll be battling again Sunday with much more at stake. And once the game kicks off, Parsons believes all the talk surrounding his messy exit from Dallas will fade to the background.
“Once the game (starts), ain’t no one talking about the trade,” Parsons said. “We’re talking about winning the football game.”
NOTES: G Aaron Banks (groin), S Javon Bullard (concussion) and OT Zach Tom (oblique) didn't practice Wednesday. ... The Packers signed G/C Lecitus Smith to their practice squad.
AP Pro Football Writers Schuyler Dixon and Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Micah Parsons (1) in action as Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz, right, watches during the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
