Ricky Parker

Ricky Duwayne Parker (born December 4, 1974) is an American former professional football defensive back who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at San Diego State. He also played in NFL Europe, the XFL, and the Arena Football League (AFL).

Early life Ricky Duwayne Parker was born on December 4, 1974, in Burlington, Vermont.

Parker played high school football at Hiram W. Johnson High School in Sacramento, California. He opened the 1990 season with a kickoff return touchdown in each of his first two games, of 80 and 85 yards in length respectively. In a 1991 game against El Dorado, he had what was considered "as complete a game as can be expected of a high school player" with a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown, a kickoff return touchdown, an interception, and a fumble recovery. Against Rio Linda, he had a punt return touchdown and two rushing touchdowns. He was named the league Player of the Year for the 1991 season.

College career Parker played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs from 1993 to 1996. In a September 1995 game against the Oklahoma Sooners, Parker set an Aztecs single-game record of 146 interception return yards, which he totaled from two interceptions; the previous record was 100. On the season, he led the Western Athletic Conference in interceptions (6), and led both the conference and all of NCAA in interception return yards (199).

During a 1996 game against Oklahoma, Parker set the Aztecs all-time record for interception return yards, having amassed a total of 313 at that point. Parker concluded his college football tenure with 10 interceptions for 355 yards and three touchdowns, and was the first Aztec player to be named to the All-WAC team three seasons in a row.

Professional career Parker was selected in the 1997 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round. Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt drafted Parker on the recommendation of his good friend Ted Tollner who was Parker's college football coach at San Diego State. Parker was cut by the Bears midway through training camp in August 1997. He was signed to the practice squad of the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 8, 1997, and was promoted to the team's active roster on September 23. He posted 47 defensive tackles and five special teams tackles overall for the Admirals during the 1998 season. Parker started all ten games for the Xtreme during the 2001 season, totaling 40 tackles and one punt return for 20 yards. Parker played for the Rattlers through the 2004 season, appearing in three straight ArenaBowls from 2002 to 2004 but losing each time. He finished his career with the AFL's Georgia Force from 2005 to 2006.