WILL PARKS BIG FAN OF LIVING IN PHILLY
There’s no mistaking the love Will Parks has for his home city. Philly Will, as the Broncos’ second-year safety is known, bleeds Philadelphia. The city’s bluecollar mentality, he attests, is what helped carry him to the NFL and into a prominent spot on one of the league’s top defenses. As has his family back home. Parks collected 20 tickets for friends and relatives to come see him play against the Eagles on Sunday, and he knows he’ll hear them on the field, no matter where they are sitting. Parks, in an interview edited for length, spoke to The Denver Post last week about returning home, his favorite local haunts and his journey from the City of Brotherly Love to the NFL. Q: When you first saw the schedule come out for this season and saw a trip to Philadelphia on it, what was the feeling? A: It was a dream come true to play against the home team. When I’d seen that, man, words can’t describe what I was feeling. I was just excited. That’s what popped up. I was even more excited about playing against them. That’s a team that passed up on me (in the 2016 NFL draft), and I actually talked with them (before the draft). It’s going to be very emotional for me. We’re going there to get a win, first and foremost. Q: You say you weren’t necessarily a fan of the Eagles, but did you go to games? A: I’ve never been to an Eagles game. I’ve only been to one Phillies game. My cousin Malcolm took me. Other than that, I’ve never been down to “The Linc.” I’ve been to Wells Fargo Arena (home of the NBA’S 76ers) about one time.
Being from the city, none of us really went to Eagles games. We were always just trying to stay out of trouble, trying to make it, trying to go to school. We didn’t really have time to get tickets. If we did, we won them for free. It’s going to be special. Q: What’s going to be most special about playing at home? A: When I was coming out for college, I had an offer from Temple. Then there were issues as far as people saying I was too slow, too stiff. I ended up going to Arizona and then coming here. The Eagles ended up being on the schedule, and I have my opportunity to show not just them, but a lot of people, they shouldn’t have passed up on me. Q: So settle the debate: what’s the best cheesesteak place in Philly? A: I’m getting a lot of questions about that. The best cheesesteak for me, where I live, it’s called Max’s. It’s on Broad and Erie. Then you have Ishkabibble’s on South Street. Then you have Dalessandro’s, which is actually on the corner of where I played little league football for the Wissahickon Braves. So I might get a chance to go up and see them play for a little bit on Saturday when we’ve got some time off. I might go up there and visit my old stomping grounds. Parks went on to talk more about his love for Philadelphia’s cuisine. A: Lorenzo’s has a pizza that is the size of, like, three footballs. Philadelphia has great food, great people, great places to shop. It’s got a lot of landmarks. You have the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, City Hall, Penn’s Landing, Delaware Avenue. There’s so many things in Philly that is out there. It’s going to be nice.