Джеки Паркер: Легенда американского и канадского футбола.

American gridiron football player and coach (1932–2006)

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

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

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. 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.