NFL Career
Parker was selected by the Baltimore Colts in the first round of the 1957 NFL draft, and the eighth player selected overall. The Colts, with quarterback Johnny Unitas, relied on a passing offense very different from the running offense of Ohio State. Nevertheless, Parker soon came to be known as the premier pass blocker in the game.
From 1957 until 1962, Parker played as an offensive tackle. He was selected to five Pro Bowl teams in those six years. In 1963 Parker moved to the offensive guard position, as a favor to his college coach Woody Hayes, to make room for another former Buckeye, Bob Vogel. Parker was selected to three more Pro Bowls from the guard position.
Many consider Parker to be the greatest lineman to ever play pro football. Parker was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973, his first year of eligibility. He was the first full-time offensive lineman so inducted. In 1994, Parker was selected to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. In 1999, he was ranked number 24 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, second among guards behind John Hannah, and third among offensive linemen behind Hannah and Anthony Munoz, both of whom began their careers well after Parker retired.
For his 1984 book, The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football, Paul Zimmerman "polled 25 old-timers and asked them to name their candidates for 'best ever' offensive linemen," and Parker was among those listed, stating that Parker was "the best pure pass-blocker who ever lived. Knew all the tricks — the quick push-off, the short jab — that are legal now."
Read more about this topic: Jim Parker (American Football)
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“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)