Derek Parish

Derek Parish (born January 4, 1999) is an American professional football defensive lineman. He played college football at Houston as an Edge rusher and Fullback. Parish was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL draft. He previously played for the DC Defenders of the United Football League (UFL) and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He also played for the Houston Texans.

Early life Parish was born on January 4, 1999, and grew up in Pearland, Texas. He attended Pearland High School and played football while also running track. Despite being named first-team all-district after posting 12.0 sacks in 2016, Parish was not highly recruited, not even placing on Rivals.com's and ESPN's rankings and being a three-star prospect. He committed to play college football for the Houston Cougars.

College career As a true freshman at Houston in 2017, Parish redshirted. Although recruited as a linebacker, his position was quickly changed to defensive end. He played 12 games in 2019, starting four while posting 38 tackles, 5.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.0 sacks.

In 2021, Parish started all 14 games and was named second-team All-American Athletic Conference (AAC) after recording 56 tackles, 12.5 tackles-for-loss and 5.5 sacks. At the start of 2022, he underwent hip surgery and later surgery for a broken bone on his hand, the latter requiring him to play with a club on his hand. However, he then suffered a season-ending torn bicep injury in the fourth game of the year. He had posted 20 tackles, 5.0 sacks and 8.5 tackles-for-loss through that point of the season, ranking third-best nationally in the latter two.

Jacksonville Jaguars Parish was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round (240th overall) of the 2023 NFL draft. He was waived on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad. He was released on October 16.

Toronto Argonauts On January 22, 2024, it was announced that Parish had signed with the Toronto Argonauts as a defensive lineman. In the 2024 season, Parish played in all 18 regular season games, starting in five, where he had 21 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles, six sacks, and two pass knockdowns. He also played in all three post-season games, including the 111th Grey Cup where he didn't record a statistic, but shared in the Argonauts' 41–24 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In 2025, Parish played and started in 16 regular season games where he had 32 defensive tackles, five sacks, and one forced fumble. On January 26, 2026, it was announced that he had been released by the Argonauts.

Houston Texans On August 25, 2026, Parish signed with the Houston Texans.

Personal life Parish won an eating competition between his Cougars teammates by eating 7 lbs. (3.175 kg) of steak in one sitting.