College Career
Parker played his first three years of high school ball in Macon, Georgia, but then moved north to play his senior season for Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio, graduating in 1953. He was recruited to play as a guard for the Ohio State University Buckeyes from 1954 to 1956, playing on both the offensive and defensive lines. Parker was known for his size, strength and quickness, and these talents, used for clearing a path for running backs, helped demonstrate the feasibility of head coach Woody Hayes' three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense—an offensive philosophy that had been questioned as suitable for big-time college football. Due in part to Parker, Hayes won his first national championship in 1954.
The next year, Parker opened holes to help Hopalong Cassady win the Heisman Trophy, and Parker was named as an All American by the Football Writers Association of America. In 1956, Parker was a unanimous All America selection and won the Outland Trophy. That year Parker himself finished eighth in the Heisman vote.
Parker was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974, and was a charter inductee in Ohio State's own Varsity O Hall of Fame in 1977. In 1999 Parker was selected as a first-team offensive guard on the "Sports Illustrated" college-football All-Century team.
Read more about this topic: Jim Parker (American Football)
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