GREEN BAY, Wis. -- When Micah Parsons first toured the Green Bay Packers' headquarters inside Lambeau Field, his eyes lit up when he noticed something hanging from the walls near the weight room, indoor practice field and even in the team meeting room: basketball hoops.
While the Pro Bowl defensive end was a standout football player back in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he also was an undersized post player who scrapped for rebounds and garbage baskets. And he loved it. But deep down, he always wanted to be a shooter.
If only rookie defensive end Collin Oliver knew what he was getting into.
"He's a shooter man," Oliver said. "Just a straight shooter."
Oliver also learned something else: Parsons takes his games of HORSE seriously. Same with pingpong (ask Tucker Kraft), bowling (ask Josh Jacobs) and everything else Parsons does on and off the field.
"If you don't love to win and you're here," Oliver said. "You're [in the] wrong [place]."
The HORSE games take place in what the Packers call the CRIC, which is short for "Conditioning, Rehab and Instruction Center." It's adjacent to the locker room at Lambeau Field and serves as a mini indoor practice field for walk-throughs or shorter practices when the team doesn't go across Oneida Street to its full practice facility at the Don Hutson Center.
Parsons has another acronym for it: ATM.
"I got a couple per diems in my pocket from that," Parsons said.
That includes Oliver's money.
"I keep telling him, I was like C.O., don't play no one else," Parsons said. "You just come to me every time."
Oliver, who said he quit playing basketball in middle school but loves to shoot, said he hasn't beaten Parsons yet.
"I've got to get him back," Oliver said. "I haven't yet, but it's on the way. He's taken too much of my money, so I've got to collect my funds a little bit."
Before Parsons arrived via trade with the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 28, just about everyone around here knew about his talents on the football field. How could they not? For four years in Dallas, Parsons was a human highlight reel, posting double-digit sacks in each of his four seasons, earning Pro Bowl recognition every time.
They've seen much of the same so far. Heading into Sunday's game against his old team in Dallas (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), Parsons has 1.5 sacks, ranks first in the NFL in pass rush wins (17) and is tied for first in quarterback pressures (14), according to ESPN Research.
Few, however, knew about Parsons' competitive spirit.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur at least had an inkling.
On the day Parsons arrived in Green Bay following the trade, LaFleur recalled his only previous interaction with him. It was at the Pro Bowl following the 2021 season. LaFleur and his staff coached in the game, and Parsons was a rookie making his first of four straight Pro Bowl appearances.
That was the final year that they played a game at the Pro Bowl, although it had ceased to become competitive several years earlier, eventually prompting the format to change to what is now known as the Pro Bowl Games -- a series of competitions culminating with a flag football game.
"The majority of guys looked like they were going through the motions," LaFleur recalled. "Except for one guy. And he was trying to wreck shop out there and he was trying to win.
"This guy's the ultimate competitor, and whatever it is you're playing, he's going to want to win. And I don't think he's very apologetic about that, which is so exciting as a coach to get a guy like that, and I think that just elevates everybody around him."
In the locker room after the Week 2 win over the Commanders, Parsons was asked about Kraft's big night with six catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. Before Parsons could compliment Kraft, he made sure everyone within earshot knew something else first.
"Tuck, bro, ask him, I'm 2-0 against him in pingpong," Parsons said. "He wants to challenge me, he's just not ready yet, man."
Kraft heard it and yelled across the locker room: "Micah brings his own paddle to work."
And there was bowling night last week with Jacobs and former practice squad receiver Mecole Hardman.
"Second game in, I rolled 258," Parsons said. "Not too bad, not too shabby. Took Josh Jacobs and Mecole and a couple of those guys like that, so I'm just happy we competing, we're spending time outside the building and we just building relationships."
Jacobs confirmed Parsons' 258 game but was quick to point out that was just one game.
"We played three games," Jacobs said. "All I know is I didn't leave down [money]. I left up."
When LaFleur had the basketball hoops installed around the facility shortly after he was hired as Packers coach in 2019, he did it with a two-fold intent: to break up the monotony of the meeting-practice-lift-meeting routine that happens daily during an NFL season but also to foster another avenue for competition. It's something he said he picked up from Dan Quinn when LaFleur was on his staff with the Falcons.
However, he had no idea at the time that eventually those hoops would be used by perhaps the most competitive person in the NFL.
"Oh, man, winning is everything to me," Parsons said. "I don't think you're going to find a more competitive person on the team or anywhere in the NFL when it comes to anything we do. We could go out and shoot hoops. We could go out there and throw a baseball, see who can throw the hardest ... We could go run 40-yard sprints, I'll wait until you get tired if you're faster than me.
"I don't think you're going to find someone that's more competitive."