It’s Week 16 of the 2024 NFL season and it’s time to start thinking about which of our friends will be hosting the NFL games on Christmas Day, but not before we enjoy the holiday morning with our family and loved ones.

Christmas is also the signal that the NFL playoffs are just around the corner. Even if the Dallas Cowboys don’t have a chance this season, it will still be fun to root for the underdogs and pray that the Philadelphia Eagles get an early exit.

As the regular season nears its end, we can start watching the stats closely to see what records could be broken, both single-season and all-time records. As it happens, DE Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys is looking for elite company in NFL history.

With 1.5 more sacks this season and three games remaining, Parsons has a chance to become just the fifth player in NFL history to start each of his first four seasons with double-digit sacks. The previous four players on this prestigious list are currently busted in Canton, Ohio. You may have heard of Claude Humphrey, Reggie White, Derrick Thomas and Dwight Freeney.

How does Micah compare?

Parsons began his career in 2021 by taking the league by storm. Injuries along the defensive line forced Micah to step in on defense and the rest is history. In his rookie year, he recorded 13.0 sacks and earned multiple honors: AP 1st Team All-Pro, Pro Bowl, AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, and finished second to TJ Watt in AP Defensive Player of the Year voting the Year.

Micah gradually increased that sack total to 13.5 and 14.0 in 2022 and 2023 and is currently at 8.5 in 2024. If he only reaches the minimum of 10.0, his career total will be 51, 5. It’s impressive that he’s even in the conversation after missing four games earlier this year with a severe ankle sprain.

If we use the sacks per game played value for Parsons this season, he is projected to finish the season with 11.0 sacks, the lowest single-season total of his career.

The field

I’ll be honest with you. I’m a connoisseur of the NFL game and can rattle off obscure NFL facts and widgets like the Dallas Cowboys’ entire starting lineup for a given season since 1992 with a reliable 85% accuracy. However, I had never heard of Claude Humphrey.

Humphrey became the first to accomplish the feat Micah sought, collecting 45.0 sacks in the first four years of his Hall of Fame career as a defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles.

He entered 1968 as the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year with 11.5 sacks, followed by 10.5 and 10.0 before reaching 13.0 in the fourth and final season of that record. He went on to record five more double-digit sack seasons, peaking with 15.5 in 1980 and a career high of 130.0.

The great Reggie White was next, posting double-digit sack totals in his first four seasons. White was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and recorded a whopping 70.0 sacks between 1985 and 1988. He was named AP Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 after leading the league with 21.0 sacks.

White was selected to the AP All-Pro team in every season of his career except his rookie season and the final season of his career as a member of the Carolina Panthers. He finished his career with 198.0 sacks and 12 double-digit sack seasons.

The late Derrick Thomas became the third player to record double-digit sacks in his first four seasons. While playing for the Kansas City Chiefs, Thomas collected 58.0 sacks between 1989 and 1992 and 20.0 in his sophomore season to earn AP 1st Team All-Pro honors.

Thomas’ career was cut short after he succumbed to injuries in a car accident following the 1999 season. He ended up with 126.5 sacks in 11 NFL seasons.

The youngest player to record double-digit sacks in the first four seasons of his career is former Indianapolis Colts DE Dwight Freeney. Freeney began his career with 13.0 sacks, the same as Micah Parsons.

His top four season was 16.0 in year three, and he finished the four-year run with 51.0 sacks before ultimately ending his 16-year career with 125.5 total sacks.