Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1997
Too short, too small. That was why college football recruiters never knocked down the door of his Philadelphia home during high school. And Wake Forest was the beneficiary. He played immediately as a true freshman in 1976 and eventually became one of the central figures in the Demon Deacon's magical 1979 season that saw them climb into the national rankings and earn the school's first bowl trip in more than 40 years.
Those same qualities - or lack of size in the minds of others - remained after Parker completed his outstanding career at WFU. But he was given the opportunity to play professionally in Canada and responded in the same competitive style that had earned him so much respect as a Deacon.
With the Edmonton Eskimos and then the British Columbia Lions, Parker achieved three Canandian Football League "Defensive Player of the Year" awards. His unique skills as a pass-rusher even earned a special name for the combination linebacker/defensive end position that he played - the "Parker Position" it was called in CFL circles.
While some may have been surprised by his success on the professional level, one of America's most well-known college coaches was not. Vince Dooley, the famous coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, said of Parker's performance in Wake's 1979 victory at Georgia, "it was the finest individual performance by a defensive player ever," against his team.
Wake Forest prides itself in producing student-athletes of great character, those who accomplish above the standards set for them by others. James Parker certainly fits that mold and his place in the WFU Hall of Fame is therefore richly deserve.
James Parker was induced into the Wake Forest University Sports Hall of Fame on January 24, 1997.
