Justin Alexander "Jalen" Parmele (born December 30, 1985) 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 with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was drafted by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in the sixth round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. He has also played for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

, and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He 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 ...

at Toledo. Jalen is now the owner of Parmele Post Rehab Exercise and Massage in Gilbert, Arizona.

Early years

Parmele attended and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for H. H. Dow High School in

Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Michigan. The city's population was 42,547 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City Comb ...

. He rushed for 705 yards as a sophomore, 1,253 yards as a junior, and 1,507 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior. For his performance as a senior, Parmele was named team

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

as well as a first-team all-state selection. He was also selected to the league's all-academic team three years. In addition to football, he lettered in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

College career

Parmele went on to attend the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

. He also received scholarship offers from

Florida A&M Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

, and

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

. As a freshman in 2004, he rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns in nine games. He appeared in 11 games the following season, rushing for 294 yards and three touchdowns. Parmele broke out as a junior in 2006, rushing for 1,170 yards and eight touchdowns on his way to a first-team All- MAC selection. He also caught 16 passes for 128 yards on the season. His rushing total ranked third in the conference behind only Northern Illinois'

Garrett Wolfe Garrett Wolfe (born August 17, 1984) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Bears in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played his college football at Northern Illinois. Early years A Chicago native, Wolfe atte ...

and Ohio's

Kalvin McRae Kalvin McRae (born August 30, 1985) is a former American football running back. He was released by the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League prior to the beginning of training camp. He was originally signed by the Chiefs as an undr ...

. He set a career-high with 173 rushing yards against

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...

, and his 92-yard run in that game was the second-longest in school history. In 12 starts as a senior in 2007, Parmele rushed for a career-high 1,511 yards and 14 touchdowns on the way to his second consecutive first-team All-MAC selection. His rushing total that season ranked ninth in the nation and second in the conference behind only Kent State's

Eugene Jarvis Eugene Peyton Jarvis is an American game designer and video game programmer, known for producing pinball machines for Atari and video games for Williams Electronics. Most notable among his works are the seminal arcade video games '' Defender'' an ...

. He also caught 17 passes for 157 yards (both personal bests) and the only receiving touchdown of his collegiate career. He surpassed his previous career high with 241 rushing yards in a game against Ohio. Parmele concluded his four-year collegiate career with 3,119 rushing yards on 589 carries (5.3 avg.) and 28 touchdowns.

Statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Prior to the

, Parmele participated in the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

and posted a 4.47-second 40-yard dash. At his Pro Day on February 28, he measured in at and . He ran the short shuttle in 4.44 seconds, short cone drill in 6.95 second, and had a vertical leap. On April 15, Parmele met with the

for a pre-draft visit.

Miami Dolphins

Parmele was drafted by the

in the sixth round (176th overall) of the

. The pick used to select Parmele was acquired from the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. Shortly after the draft, Dolphins general manager

Jeff Ireland Jeff Ireland (born March 11, 1970) is an American football executive who is the assistant general manager and college scouting director for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the general manag ...

labeled Parmele the third running back on the depth chart and said he would also be a given a chance to return kickoffs. During June workouts, Parmele worked with the second-team offense and also returned punts. After spending the first three games of the 2008 regular season inactive, Parmele was waived by the Dolphins on September 24 to make room for

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

Joey Haynos Joey Haynos (born August 28, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Maryland. He has also been a member of the Miami Dolphins, Jacks ...

on the roster. Parmele was re-signed to the team's practice squad the following day.

Baltimore Ravens

Parmele was signed by the

off the Dolphins' practice squad on December 9, 2008. He made his NFL debut against the

in the regular season finale on December 28, rushing twice for 27 yards. In his second season with the Ravens in 2009, he made a much bigger impact as he became the team's starting kick returner after rookie

Lardarius Webb Lardarius Webb (born October 12, 1985) is a former American football cornerback. He played collegiately at Nicholls State University and the University of Southern Mississippi. Webb was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round of the ...

tore his ACL in Week 15. On only nine kick-off returns, Parmele racked up 283 yards for a 31.4 average with his longest return being 53 yards. He also added five carries for 17 yards as the team's #4

runningback A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. There ...

and six special teams tackles. In 2010, Parmele did not rush once but continued his role as a backup returner. Parmele was released by

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

during final cuts on September 3, 2011.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Parmele was signed by the

on May 1, 2012. He began the season as a

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player, including returning kicks. When

Maurice Jones-Drew Maurice Christopher Jones-Drew (born March 23, 1985), often called "MJD", is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and earned unan ...

and two other running backs were injured, Parmele became the starting running back. He played in the Jaguars first 11 games before incurring a partially torn groin on November 27. Parmele was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

and surgery ended his season with 40 carries for 143 yards, 3.6 yards per carry. He caught seven passes for 60 yards, for 8.6 yards per catch, and returned 10 kicks for 233 yards, a 23.3 yard average. He became a free agent in 2013.

Tennessee Titans

Parmele signed with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

on May 8, 2013. He was released by the team on August 30, 2013.

Arizona Cardinals

On May 27, 2014, Parmele signed with the

. He appeared in a Week 3 game for the Cardinals. He was released by the team on September 24, 2014.

Cleveland Browns

Parmele was signed by the Cleveland Browns on August 3, 2015. On August 31, 2015, he was released by the team.

References

External links

Toledo Rockets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parmele, Jalen 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Boynton Beach, Florida Players of American football from Palm Beach County, Florida Sportspeople from Midland, Michigan African-American players of American football American football running backs Toledo Rockets football players Miami Dolphins players Baltimore Ravens players Jacksonville Jaguars players Tennessee Titans players Arizona Cardinals players Cleveland Browns players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people Midland Dow High School alumni