Jackie Parker

Parker was born on January 1, 1932, in Knoxville, Tennessee and given the name John Dickerson Flanagan. When his mother remarried, he took on the last name of her new husband, Carroll Parker.[2] He suffered through two childhood health scares. The first was when he almost died of a ruptured appendix,[3] and the second was when he suffered a flesh-eating disease that almost cost him his entire leg. Doctors wanted to amputate but Parker's mother would not allow it.[4] Parker attended Young City High School in Knoxville, and despite playing only one year of football he was named an All-City tailback. While attending high school he met and married Peggy Jo, with whom he had three children, Jackie Jr., Peggy Mae and Jerri-Jo.[5][6]

Once his college playing days were over Parker was drafted by both the New York Giants of the NFL and the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (which became part of the Canadian Football League in 1958).[14] Despite being offered more money by the Giants, Parker chose to sign with the Eskimos in part because his former quarterbacks coach at Mississippi State, Darrell Royal, had become the Eskimos' head coach. Royal never actually coached Parker in Canada as he returned to Mississippi State as the head coach for the 1954 season.[3][15] At the end of his first season Giants owner Wellington Mara personally came calling with a contract worth almost twice what Parker was making with the Eskimos but Parker chose to not to go to New York in part because Peggy said she liked Edmonton better.[6]

Nicknamed "Ol' Spaghetti Legs", Parker became one of the most important parts of the Eskimos dynasty of the mid-1950s. While Parker played both defence and offence, a not uncommon practice in his day, his main strength was offense, where he was both a strong runner and an excellent quarterback. This is shown by his Western All-Star selections; as a running back in 1954, 1957 and 1959, and as a quarterback in 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960 and 1961. Parker won six consecutive Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophies as the West's most outstanding player from 1956 to 1961, and seven in total. He was awarded the Schenley Award as Canadian football's most outstanding player in 1957, 1958 and 1960 and was the runner-up in 1956 and 1961.

During the first three seasons of his career (1954–1956), the Eskimos won consecutive Grey Cups. In the 1954 Grey Cup, Parker made one of the most famous plays in Grey Cup history when, in the fourth quarter, Ted Tully hit Montreal Alouettes running back Chuck Hunsinger forcing a fumble. Parker recovered the ball and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown, giving the Eskimos, who were a large underdog in the game, a surprise victory. Parker's 90-yard fumble return remained a Grey Cup record until Cassius Vaughn's 109 yard fumble return in the 105th Grey Cup.

Following the 1962 season, the Eskimos traded Parker to the Toronto Argonauts for five players and $15,000. Parker played in Toronto from 1963 to 1965.

Parker finished his playing career with the BC Lions in 1968 when, as an assistant coach, he helped the team out of a difficult mid-season situation by donning the pads for one last go round as quarterback. At the time of his retirement, Parker, who also kicked extra points and field goals, had scored a then CFL record 750 points.

After his playing days ended, Parker moved into coaching. Parker coached the BC Lions for part of the 1969 season and all of 1970, before moving on to the front office as general manager the next year. He stayed as general manager until being fired in 1975.

Parker coached the Eskimos from 1983, taking over at mid-season after a 4–4 start led to the firing of Pete Kettela until resigning for health reasons two games into the 1987 season, with Joe Faragalli replacing him as Eskimos coach; the team went on to win the Grey Cup that season after losing to Hamilton the previous year.

After leaving football, Parker was an executive with the Interprovincial Steel & Pipe Corporation, Ltd.

On November 7, 2006, Parker died in the early morning hours at a local Edmonton hospital at age 74 due to throat cancer.[16]

Parker's jersey No. 91 currently hangs on the Wall of Honour at the Eskimos' Commonwealth Stadium. "Jackie Parker Park" in Edmonton, Alberta, was named in his honour. The Jackie Parker Trophy, awarded annually to the Most Outstanding Rookie in the West Division, is named after him.

Jackie Parker was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1971, the Mississippi State University Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1972, the College Football Hall of Fame in 1976, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. In November 2006, Parker was voted one of the CFL's top 50 players (No. 3) in a poll conducted by Canadian sports network TSN.[17]

• Grey Cup victories – 1954, 1955, 1956
• CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – 1957, 1958, 1960
• CFL All-Star – 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961
• Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (West Division's most outstanding player) – 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961
• Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy (top scorer in West Division) – 1959, 1961
• Canadian Football Hall of Fame – 1971
• Edmonton Eskimo Wall of Honour – 1983
• Canada's Sports Hall of Fame – 1987
• All Southeastern Conference – 1952, 1953
• College Football All-America Team – 1959
• Nashville Banner SEC MVP – 1952, 1953
• Birmingham QB Club MVP – 1953
• Atlanta Touchdown Club Back of the Year – 1953
• Mississippi State University Hall of Fame – 1972
• Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame – 1972
• College Football Hall of Fame – 1976
• Jones County Junior College Sports Hall of Fame – 2013
• National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame - 1995

• List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders

• The Canadian Encyclopedia