Bernard Paul Parrish (April 29, 1936 – October 23, 2019) was an American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) and

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) for eight seasons during the 1950s and 1960s. Parrish played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and thereafter, he played professionally for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

of the NFL and the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

of the AFL. Parrish's football memoirs later stirred controversy.

Early life

Parrish was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

in 1936.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Bernie Parrish
Retrieved July 9, 2010. He grew up in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

, where he attended P.K. Yonge High SchooldatabaseFootball.com, Players
Bernie Parrish
. Retrieved June 19, 2010. and played high school football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

for the P.K. Yonge Blue Wave.

College career

Parrish accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, and played halfback and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for coach

Bob Woodruff Robert Warren Woodruff (born August 18, 1961) is an American television journalist. Since 1996, he has served as a reporter for ABC News. Woodruff co-anchored ABC World News Tonight in 2006 alongside ABC News journalist Elizabeth Vargas. He was ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

team in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

and

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 105, 111, 114, 184 (2011). Retrieved August 31, 2011. Memorably, Parrish was named Associated Press "Back of the Week" for his performance in the Gators' 14–7 win over the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's team ...

, including rushing for 111 yards, scoring both touchdowns, kicking both extra points, catching an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

, and making seven tackles—including one to prevent the Commodores' tying score. He also played second base for coach

Dave Fuller Dave Fuller (1915 – September 15, 2009) was an American college baseball coach who led the Florida Gators baseball team of the University of Florida for twenty-eight seasons. Early life and education Fuller attended Wake Forest University i ...

Florida Gators baseball The Florida Gators baseball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of baseball. Florida competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (S ...

team from 1956 to 1958. As a junior in 1958, he batted .433 and led the Gators in

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

s and

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, received first-team All-

Southeastern conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) honors, and was the Gators' first-ever first-team baseball All-American. Parrish decided to forgo his senior year of NCAA eligibility, and accepted a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

bonus contract. Parrish returned to Gainesville during the NFL off-season to complete his degree and graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in building construction in 1960. He was later inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great."

Professional career

The

selected Parrish in the ninth round (108th pick overall) of the

1958 NFL Draft The 1958 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in ...

, and he played for the Browns from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Bernie Parrish
Retrieved June 20, 2010. Memorably, he returned one interception for 92 yards and a touchdown in 1960, and intercepted a pass from the great Y. A. Tittle in his last game in 1964 (Tittle himself had to tackle Parrish to keep him from scoring).NY Times Obituary
/ref> Parrish was a key man of the Browns' defense on their run to winning the 1964 NFL championship. In his seven seasons with the Browns, he had 29 interceptions, including three returned for touchdowns. After playing in one game of the season, Parrish requested that he be released because the Browns asked him to share time at his position with another player, and played the balance of the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

season (11 games) for the

of the AFL before retiring at season's end. In his eight-year professional football career, Parrish played in 105 regular season games, recorded a total of 31 interceptions, and returned those interceptions for 557 yards and three touchdowns.

Life after the NFL

During his time with the Browns, Parrish served as team representative to the

National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...

(NFLPA), and later NFLPA

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

. After retiring as a player, Parrish worked with the

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the u ...

in the late 1960s in an unsuccessful attempt to organize a new Teamsters-affiliated NFL/AFL players'

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

. At the Teamsters, he worked for Harold J. Gibbons, the heir apparent to Jimmy Hoffa. In 1971, Parrish wrote a best-selling book, ''They Call It A Game'', published by

The Dial Press The Dial Press was a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh. The Dial Press shared a building with ''The Dial'' and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W. R. Bu ...

, about the economics and politics of the NFL. Sports: Superbawl
, ''Time'' (September 13, 1971). Retrieved June 19, 2010. His book included the controversial allegation that the NFL had fixed the outcomes of some of its games.Robert H. Boyle,

, ''Sports Illustrated'' (November 1, 1971). Retrieved June 20, 2010. Some critics, however, expressed the opinion that Parrish had failed to substantiate such claims in any material way. Parrish enjoyed a second career as a hotel

developer Developer may refer to: Computers * Software developer, a person or organization who develop programs/applications * Video game developer, a person or business involved in video game development, the process of designing and creating games * Web d ...

before retiring to spend more time with his wife and family.Les Carpenter,
Parrish Tackles NFLPA Head-On Seeking Better Pensions for Retirees
, ''The Washington Post'' (June 17, 2007). Retrieved June 20, 2010. In 2007, Parrish and former

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

cornerback

Herb Adderley Herbert Anthony Adderley (June 8, 1939 – October 30, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a cornerback for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 1980, he was enshrined in th ...

filed a

class action suit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

on behalf of retired NFL players against the NFLPA and Players, Inc., a subsidiary of the NFLPA, over retired players' benefits derived from player image and name licensing fees.Alan Schwarz,
Pro Football; 2 Former N.F.L. Players Sue Over Sharing of Fees
, ''The New York Times'' (February 15, 2007). Retrieved June 20, 2010. While Parrish was eventually dismissed from the suit as a lead plaintiff of the represented class, the trial jury found in favor of the retired players and awarded a $28.1 million judgment against the NFLPA and Players, Inc., including $21 million in

punitive damages Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. ...

. The NFLPA appealed the judgment in February 2009, but eventually settled the case without further litigation. Parrish was a harsh critic of the late NFLPA President

Gene Upshaw Eugene Thurman Upshaw Jr. (August 15, 1945 – August 20, 2008), also known as "Uptown Gene" and "Highway 63", was an American professional football player for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Foot ...

, and publicly excoriated Upshaw's record on providing disability and medical assistance to retired NFL players. While many retired players agreed with Parrish's criticisms of Upshaw, many of them and other observers believed that Parrish went too far in his attacks against Upshaw when he strongly implied that Upshaw was involved in the death of his first wife. Upshaw's first wife apparently died of natural causes, she and Upshaw had been divorced for over a decade at the time of her death, and police investigators said Upshaw was not a suspect or person of interest in any investigation. A ''Sports Illustrated'' article about the rift between retired players and Upshaw made it clear that former players hesitated before contacting Parrish to speak to the press about Upshaw. He died on October 23, 2019 from prostate cancer.

Cleveland Browns Legends Hall

On October 1, 2017, Parrish was inducted into the Cleveland Browns Legends hall along with

Tony Adamle Anthony "Tony" Adamle (May 15, 1924 – October 7, 2000) was a professional American football linebacker and fullback in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career for the Cle ...

at halftime of a game with the cross-state rival Cincinnati Bengals.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * McEwen, Tom, ''The Gators: A Story of Florida Football'', The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . * Parrish, Bernard P.,
They Call It a Game: Shoulders They Stand On
', Authors Choice Press, Lincoln, Nebraska (2000). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Parrish, Bernie 1936 births 2019 deaths All-American college baseball players American football defensive backs American trade union leaders Cleveland Browns players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Florida Gators baseball players Florida Gators football players Houston Oilers players Players of American football from Gainesville, Florida Players of American football from Long Beach, California Activists from California American Football League players