Kenny Parker (born July 22, 1946) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
defensive back who played 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).
Early life and high school
Parker was born and grew up in
Paterson, New Jersey and attended
Eastside High School. He played basketball and football and was named first-team All-Passaic Valley Conference at quarterback as a senior.
College basketball career
Parker played basketball at Fordham, which did not have a college football team at the time. Parker played under head coach
Johnny Bach
John William Bach (July 10, 1924 – January 18, 2016) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A forward/ guard, Bach played college basketball at Fordham University and Brown University. He was selected by the Boston Celt ...
and was a starter at guard. He named the Rams captain as a senior and was an Academic All-America selection. Parker averaged 4.9 points over 77 games during his collegiate basketball career.
Professional career
Despite not having played football since high school, Parker was selected in the 16th round of the
1968 NFL/AFL Draft
The 1968 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, in the second year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. It took place at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City on January 30–31, 1968.
The Min ...
by the
New York Giants. He suffered a season-ending injury during the 1968 preseason and spent 1969 on the practice squad. Parker made the Giants active roster in 1970, and eventually became a starter at cornerback due to injuries. Parker was cut at the end of training camp in 1971.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Kenny
1946 births
American football defensive backs
Fordham Rams men's basketball players
Players of American football from Paterson, New Jersey
New York Giants players
Eastside High School (Paterson, New Jersey) alumni
Basketball players from Paterson, New Jersey
Living people