Jackie Parker

John Dickerson "Jackie" Parker (January 1, 1932 – November 7, 2006) was an American gridiron football player and coach.

He was an All-American in college football and an outstanding professional football player in the Canadian Football League (CFL) at the running back, quarterback, defensive back, and kicker positions.

He is primarily known for his play with the Edmonton Eskimos.

Later in his career, he played for the Toronto Argonauts and the BC Lions, and coached the Eskimos and Lions after his playing career ended.

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.

He suffered through two childhood health scares.

The first was when he almost died of a ruptured appendix, 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.

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.

When he first was graduated from high school Parker found that his college playing choices were limited because he was married, so he elected to play his first two years of college sports for Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi, from 1950 to 1951.

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 offence, where he was both a strong runner and an excellent quarterback.

In 1951, he led the Bobcat football team to a 9–0–1 record and a state title.

He was also a standout baseball player helping JCJC to a South Division title and state runner-up finish in 1951 and a state championship in 1952.

He was eventually inducted into both the JCJC Sports Hall of Fame and the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame.

He then transferred to Mississippi State University where he spent two seasons as a member of the Bulldogs.

When Parker first got to Mississippi State he once again found that his married status was a limiting factor as head football coach Murray Warmath had a policy against married players.

Mississippi State baseball coach, R.P. "Doc" Patty had no such policy so Parker got a baseball scholarship and joined the team, where he was an outstanding shortstop and received an offer to play for the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1952 the football coaches were in dire need of someone to run their new split-T offense and gave Parker a chance.

Early on coaches were not impressed with Parker, but then in the final scrimmage before the opening game he tossed seven touchdowns.

Nicknamed "The Fast Freight from Mississippi State", he was named to the 1952 and 1953 All–Southeastern Conference teams and the 1953 College Football All-America Team.

In 1952, he led all NCAA Division I players in points scored, with 120.

Parker won numerous other honors during his college career including being named the Nashville Banner SEC MVP in 1952 and 53, the Birmingham QB Club MVP in 1953 (an award he shared with teammate Hal Easterwood, who was a lineman), and being named the Atlanta Touchdown Club Back of the Year in 1953.

Parker rewrote the record books at MSU and still holds several school records.

In addition to the records he currently holds, Parker set several records that have since been broken and remains on the top ten list in several categories at MSU.

On top of his exploits as the Bulldog QB, Parker was also the team's leading punt returner in 1953, the leading kick returner in 1952 and 1953, and led the team in passes intercepted in 1953 with 4.

To go along with his athletic awards, he was named to the 1953 Cosida All-Academic team.

Royal never actually coached Parker in Canada as he returned to Mississippi State as the head coach for the 1954 season.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Parker was named a member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1976, and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1976.

In 1976, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Parker's 120 points were an SEC record that stood until 1992, when it was broken by Georgia running back Garrison Hearst.

In November, 2006, Parker was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (No. 3) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.