Micah Parsons slid his Army All-American jersey on Tuesday afternoon in front of a filled Harrisburg High auditorium.

A throng of media showed up to take it all in, and he was celebrated by an enthusiastic student body that turned out to watch him be officially presented with the jersey.

But, as the festivities wound down, he turned his mind to the people who, he said, never believed he’d be in the position.

“I went through my trials and tribulations early,” Parsons said. “A lot of people said I wouldn’t be here … I wouldn’t get out of high school or get to college.

“Just beating the odds is more than any offer … anything that has ever came to me. Just proving people wrong is more satisfying than a lot of things I could say or do.”

Parsons, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive end/linebacker, is rated by recruiting website 247Sports as the fifth-best player in the nation.

He’s the top-ranked senior in Pennsylvania.

And, he said, he plans to choose a school soon — Penn State and Ohio State appear to be the front runners — and enroll early.

During Tuesday’s jersey presentation, Harrisburg coach Calvin Everett called him an “incredible talent.”

“A talent like that just doesn’t come around that often,” Everett said.

“He’s very intelligent. Extremely intelligent, especially, when it comes to football. He gets good grades so the sky is the limit for him.”

And his ceremony was the second such in as many days.

Penn State commit, receiver Shaquon Anderson-Butts, was presented with his Under Armour All-American jersey Monday.

“This is extremely big for our program, school district and city,” Everett told the crowd. “Extremely big.”

That wasn’t lost on Parsons, and Anderson-Butts, who both said, post-ceremony, that they hope they’ve set an example for younger athletes in Harrisburg.

Although he hopes to enroll early, Parsons said he does plan to play in the Army game, slated for Jan. 7.

The only question about that seems to be whether they’re going to let him carry the ball some.

“Maybe … maybe … maybe …” he said smiling at the mention of that. “They might let me do a little something.”

But, even if he doesn’t get that opportunity, he said he’s ready for the game.

“A bunch of great names are on the list (of players who played in the game),” he said. “Hopefully, I can be another great name on that list, and people can talk about me in the future.”