New York football star of the 1940s
Clarence “Ace” Parker, 101, a star of New York City football in the 1940s who was the oldest member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died Wednesday, the Canton, Ohio-based Hall of Fame announced. He had been hospitalized with a pulmonary condition since late last month, the Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported.
Born May 17, 1912, in Portsmouth, Va., Parker was an all-around athlete who played football, basketball and baseball at Duke University, earning All-American honors as a tailback in football.
Listed at 5-feet-10 and 178 pounds, he starred with the NFL’s Brooklyn Dodgers from 1937-41. He won the league’s most valuable player award in 1940 for his exploits as a quarterback, defensive back and punter. That season, he threw 10 touchdown passes, ran for 306 yards and two touchdowns, caught two touchdown passes, kicked 19 extra points and shared the league lead with six interceptions on defense. He also punted for the Dodgers, averaging 38 yards per kick.
In a Dodgers win over the Cleveland Rams on Nov. 17, 1940, Parker had a hand in all 29 of his team’s points. He ran back an interception for a touchdown, threw two touchdown passes, served as holder for a successful field goal, set up a touchdown with a second interception and kicked two extra points.
For two seasons, 1937 and 1938, he played football with the Dodgers and baseball with the Philadelphia Athletics. A shortstop, Parker hit a home run in his first big-league at-bat, but finished with a batting average under .200.
He left football in 1942 to serve in World War II, then returned to football with the Boston Yanks in 1945. He finished his career the next season in the rival American Football Conference, playing quarterback for the New York Yankees.
He went on to play minor league baseball and returned to Duke as baseball coach and assistant football coach. Among the football players he coached was quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, who had a Hall of Fame career with Philadelphia and Washington.
Parker, who also worked as an NFL scout for the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972.