Ace Parker

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Ace Parker
Ace Parker.png
Parker in Chanticleer 1936, the Duke Yearbook
Positions:
Quarterback , Running Back , Defensive Back 		Jersey number (s):
7
born May 17, 1912 in Portsmouth , Virginia
died on November 6, 2013 , ibid
Career information
Active : 1937 - 1946
NFL Draft : 1937 / Round: 2 / Pick: 13
College : Duke University
Teams
Career statistics
Games     68
as a starter     49
Touchdowns     20th
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Clarence McKay "Ace" Parker (* 17th May 1912 in Portsmouth , Virginia , † 6. November 2013 ,) was an American American Football- and baseball players . He played in the National Football League (NFL), including the Brooklyn Dodgers .

youth

Ace Parker attended high school in his hometown . The athletically talented Parker played five sports there, including baseball and American football. During his schooldays he was awarded a total of 16 times for his athletic achievements.

Player career

College career

Clarence Parker studied from 1934 to 1936 at Duke University in Durham . He played there on both the football and baseball teams, as well as on the basketball team . For his football team, he ran mostly as a halfback . In 1935 he was voted All-American (Second Team). In the following year he was accepted into the first selection team. From 1934 to 1936, the college football team won 24 of 29 games. In 1935 and 1936, his college team won the championship in the Southern Conference .

Professional career

In 1937 Parker first played professional baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics , a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. After 38 games, he interrupted his baseball career and played American football for the Brooklyn Dodgers , who had selected him in the second round in 13th place in the NFL Draft that same year . For the Dodgers he was mostly tailback . After the 1937 NFL season , he moved back to the Athletics in the spring of 1938, but ended his baseball career in this league after another 56 games in the MLB. Interrupted by his service in the US Navy , he played baseball again and again in various lower-class teams until 1952 .

In the 1938 NFL game year , Parker ran again for the Dodgers. He posted two NFL annual bests this season - first for the most pass attempts (148) and second for the highest gain of space achieved by passing play (865 yards ). Parker played in Brooklyn until 1941. He did not win a title with this team.

In 1941, Parker was drafted into the US Navy and served as a lieutenant . Immediately after his service, he returned to professional football and ran for the Boston Yanks . In 1946 he joined the New York Yankees coached by Ray Flaherty , a team that played in the newly formed All-America Football Conference (AAFC). With the Yankees he also celebrated his greatest success. The team managed to move into the AAFC final in 1946. Opponents in the game were the Cleveland Browns supervised by Paul Brown . The Browns were the dominant team in the AAFC and also won this encounter 14-9. Parker hadn't had a good day. While the quarterback of the Browns Otto Graham was able to gain 213 yards of space by passing play and thus led his team to victory, he only achieved 81 yards of space and threw an interception . After that game year, Parker ended his playing career.

Coaching career

Immediately after his playing career, Parker was head coach of the Duke University baseball team and also served as assistant coach for the football team. From 1949 to 1952 he was also the player -coach of the Durham Bulls of a minor league baseball team. In 1961, Parker led his Duke University baseball team to the College World Series . After 19 years as a trainer at Duke University, he moved to the University of North Carolina . He ended his coaching activity there after a year.

Parker died in his hometown on November 6, 2013. He is buried in the Olive Branch Cemetery in Portsmouth.

Honors

Ace Parker has been voted All-Star five times . In 1940 he won the Joe F. Carr Trophy as best player of an NFL season. He has been a member of the College Football Hall of Fame since 1955 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame since 1972 . He is also in other halls of fame : in the Duke Sports Hall of Fame, in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, as well as in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and in the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame. His hometown named a street after him.

literature

  • Richard Whittingham: What a Game They Played: An Inside Look at the Golden Era of Pro Football , University of Nebraska Press, 1984, ISBN 978-0-8032-9819-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary "Ace Parker, Pro Football Hall of Famer From Leather-Helmet Days, Dies at 101" in the New York Times
  2. ^ Annual statistics of the Yankees 1946
  3. ↑ AAFC endgame statistics 1946
  4. ↑ Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Share on Reddit Share on Google+ E-mail Clarence 'Ace' Parker, Oldest NFL Hall of Famer, Dies at 101
  5. ↑ Ace Parker's grave in Find a grave
  6. ^ Membership list Duke Sports Hall of Fame
  7. ↑ Short biography in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame ( Memento from December 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Short biography in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame ( Memento of November 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Admission to the Hall of Fame
  10. ↑ Newspaper article on the 100th birthday of Ace Parker ( Memento from May 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Parker, Ace
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Parker, Clarence McKay (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American football and baseball player, baseball and football coach
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Portsmouth , Virginia , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 2013
Place of death Portsmouth , Virginia , United States