Jackie Parker

John Dickerson "Jackie" Parker (January 1, 1932 – November 7, 2006) was an American gridiron football player and coach. An All-American in college football, he went on to a professional career in the Canadian Football League, where he played running back, quarterback, defensive back, and kicker. He is primarily known for his play with the Edmonton Eskimos, and later in his career played for the Toronto Argonauts and the BC Lions. After his playing days ended, he coached both the Eskimos and the Lions.

Parker was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and given the name John Dickerson Flanagan; when his mother remarried, he took the surname of her new husband, Carroll Parker. He survived two childhood health scares, first nearly dying of a ruptured appendix and later suffering a flesh-eating disease that nearly cost him his leg, with doctors wanting to amputate.

Parker was named a member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1976 and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in the same year. In November 2006, he was voted third in the CFL's Top 50 players of the league's modern era by the Canadian sports network TSN.