Colin Parker stands with his father, Anthony, after a game in 2010. (Photo courtesy of Colin Parker)Colin Parker has gone from watching his teammates win a high school state football championship to earning a spot in the NFL by making the most of his time at Arizona State.
Arizona Cardinals linebacker and ASU alumnus, Parker overcame injuries and never quit working until he reached the NFL.
His father Anthony Parker, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and ASU football standout, put the sport in Colin’s life early, but didn’t allow him to play his first organized game until he was 8.
Big for his age, Parker played with older kids, but his talent soon began to show. After a few years, he started summer workouts with his father.
“When I started getting into middle school, my dad kind of made me start doing summer training, which I hated,” Parker said. “I was 12, I didn’t want to be out there running. But it was good. I learned early that hard work comes with the sport.”
Parker attended Hamilton High School in Chandler, a school known for its football program. He cracked the starting varsity lineup as a sophomore.
Former Hamilton head coach John Wrenn, now assistant athletic director of football operations at ASU, coached Parker as a varsity player.
“When he was a sophomore (in high school), I thought he was probably the best player I ever coached,” Wrenn said, who had also coached Terrell Suggs, a Pro Bowl linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens.
Injuries prevented Parker from realizing his talent when he missed a few games in his sophomore season because of a concussion and he missed the playoffs his junior year when he tore his ACL. The injury forced him into rehab and a later surgery would cause Parker to lose his senior season.
“It was really frustrating,” Parker said. “I really just wanted to be out there playing with my friends.”
Hamilton went on to win the 2006 Arizona Division 5A State Championship.
Without being able to show colleges his ability and health, Parker knew he faced an uphill battle to continue his playing career.
ASU was the only school to offer Parker a scholarship before his senior year. Because of injuries, no other offers were made. Here, Parker found his blessing.
“It had been my favorite school my whole life, and that was my dream — to go play at ASU,” Parker said.
After redshirting his freshman year in 2007, Parker spent the next two years as a special teams player and reserve linebacker, trying to earn a shot with the first team.
Parker finally started a game as a redshirt junior, finishing the season with five starts.
It was the first time Parker felt comfortable playing since his knee injury.
“That experience is so valuable when you’re learning how to be a starter,” Parker said. “It’s a completely different atmosphere than coming off the bench or just playing special teams.”
With that experience under his belt, Parker shined during his redshirt senior season. He was named a team captain, started all 13 games, earned an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and established himself as an NFL prospect.
“Pretty much depending on how I played determined if I was going to get a shot in the NFL,” Parker said.
A few teams expressed interest in selecting him in the 2012 NFL Draft, but Parker was not drafted.
“It’s disappointing not to get drafted, but at the same time I got an opportunity and made the most of it,” Parker said of being signed as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals.
Parker is on the Cardinals’ practice squad, meaning he gets to train with the team but isn’t on the roster for games. He’s working hard to earn his way onto the active team and learning plenty in the process.
Though Parker still has a long road in front of him before becoming an NFL starter, Wrenn wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen.
“Don’t sell him short,” Wrenn said. “He’s a great young man, a winner on and off the field.”
Reach the reporter at kyle.payne@asu.edu
