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The boxing coach helping Micah Parsons dominate the NFL
Tony Mack, a former boxer, has transitioned into a coach and gym owner. He has been training NFL stars including Dallas Cowboys Micah Parsons, Brandin Cooks and Stephon Gilmore.
ALLEN, Texas - He's the man behind the punch that Micah Parsons is packing.
But training Dallas Cowboys superstars in a boxing ring was not in the plans for a young Tony Mack.
"I was getting in trouble, hanging out with the wrong crowd," said Mack. "This was in the hood, you know, and I knew that my life was going to go in a totally different direction if I would have stayed doing that."
Tony dreamed of more, so he started authoring his own Fresh Prince story.
He moved in with his aunt in Plano, becoming the first Black senior class president at Plano West High.
Some things, like football, weren't in his wheelhouse. He tried, but rode the bench.
It wasn't until he was 20 that boxing found Tony.
"It showed me that I could withstand anything," said Mack.
Boxing swung into Tony's world and brought him to the U.S. Olympic trials. He also had a pro career, which ended with a 13-1-1 record, including a Texas Super Middleweight championship.
Boxing also put a punctuation mark on Tony's career before he could.
A detached retina forced him into retirement and onto his new journey as a coach and gym owner.
"My plan was to become a world champion. I wasn't going to stop until I became a world champion, but now God closed that door and what we're doing now, now I'm building multiple world champions," Mack said.
Those world champions are not just limited to boxing.
This year, Tony has drawn some aspiring Super Bowl champions into his gym.
A run of NFL stars that started with a former Cowboys Pro Bowl receiver one day in January.
"I get a text saying, ‘Hey, this is Amari Cooper. I want to come out and box.’ I was like, oh snap," recalled Mack.
Coop stuck and then made a promise that one day he would bring Micah Parsons in for a Tony workout.
On April 13, Tony was not planning to be at his gym, it was his birthday, but opportunity came calling.
"Coop said, ‘Hey, Micah wants to come with me and train,’" remembered Mack. "I was like, bet. I stopped what I was doing, and I rushed up to the gym."
When he got there he saw Parsons and Cooper sitting on the ring.
"God is real, everything happens for a reason," Mack remembers thinking. "This is what I work for. This is supposed to happen. Great things will happen if you just don't quit."
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Parsons and Cooper have become regulars at Tony Mack.
"If they're not out of town traveling, they are with me 2, 3, 4 days a week," said Mack.
Micah has since dragged other Cowboys into Tony's gym, including defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
"Dan Quinn, he was actually really quick. At first, I was trying to slow it down for him thinking he wasn't going to get it," Mack recalled. "He was letting his hands go, so he's a beast. I love it."
Parsons even recently brought this year's first-round pick Mazi Smith.
Separately, wide receiver Brandin Cooks discovered Tony and recruited cornerback Stephon Gilmore to do a workout.
"The biggest thing for me is just the conditioning," said Cooks. "You really get tired out there. But then also from a hand eye coordination, I think I saw the biggest benefit."
Parsons has become a superstar by sacking quarterbacks, but to get there, he first has to fend off an attack from the row of 300-pound quarterback bouncers on the other team's offensive line trying to swat him away.
The training Tony is putting Micah through could be at the heart of making Parsons a level of unstoppable the NFL has rarely, if ever, seen before.
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"Boxing helps with the defensive players and I throw real punches at them," explained Mack. "I forced him to just focus on defense only, and so Micah he picked it up quick."
Parsons explained to Mack that the training would help him get the hands of offensive lineman off of him.
"Being attacked under pressure, knowing these guys are going to hit you from all types of ways. Maybe up high, down low. Just being prepared for it, it is the same thing as sparring," said Parsons. "It is something I'm used to at this point and it is something I'm still actively working on."
It has already been a dream season for Tony Mack.
"I'm literally having the time of my life. It's like I kind of got a cheat code to life," said Mack. "Everything I always wanted, everything I prayed for, everything I've written in my goal books, it's happened."
If Parsons and company can knock out that 27-year title drought Tony will have a piece of that world championship rush he fought to feel for so many years.
"If we win the Super Bowl this year, give me some love," joked Mack. "I want a ring too, Jerry. I need a ring."