Born January 1 , 1932, Died, November 7, 2006
Class of 1971 – Career Highlights:
Grey Cup Champion – 1954-1956
Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (MOP Western Conference) – 1954. 1956-1961
Dave Driburgh Memorial Trophy (top scorer, Western Conference) – 1959, 1961
CFL MOP – 1957, 1958, 1960
Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour – 1983
US College Hall of Fame – 1976
Canadian Sports Hall of Fame – 1987
He began his career by playing on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball, but earned most of his acclaim for his versatile offensive abilities. Most of his team success came during his time with the Edmonton Eskimos, with whom he played from 1954-1962.
He also had stops in Toronto (1963-1965) and B C Lions (1966-1968), before he turned to a coaching career. He led the B C Lions for the 1969 and 1970 seasons, before assuming the role of General Manager until 1975. He returned to the coaching ranks in Edmonton in 1983 and held that post until early in the 1987 season, when health reasons forced him to retire.
The versatile star excelled at the halfback, quarterback and wide receiver positions making him a difficult player to defend throughout his career. To underline that commonly-stated opinion, he produced 5,210 rushing yards, 2,308 yards on pass receptions and completed 1,089 passes for 16,476 yards. These numbers just begin to tell justify his recognition as the CFL’s athlete of the quarter century.
He is most well-known for one of the greatest plays in Grey Cup history, when he raced 90 yards with a fumble recovery to help the Eskimos to an upset win in the 1954 championship game.
Parker was also a very good place kicker and at the time of his retirement, he was the league’s all-time scoring leader with 750 points. In 1974, the CFL honoured his career by creating the Jackie Parker Trophy, which is awarded annually to the most outstanding rookie of the Western Division.