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Where Are They Now? - Thomas Parker
10/13/2019 6:37:00 PM | Football
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Thomas Parker was rapidly ascending into a star wide receiver at Florida Atlantic University.
Then, on June 29, 2003, the summer before his junior season, he nearly lost his career and life.
Parker got out of his car on State Road 9 in Miami to aid a crashed motorist. Fifteen minutes later he saw another car traveling 60 miles per hour, showing no signs of slowing, heading right toward him.
"Me thinking I was a top-flight athlete, I thought I could outrun the car instead of jumping over the guard rail," Parker said.
His athletic hubris failed him.
The car's windshield smashed into Parker's jaw, fracturing it in 18 places. The impact catapulted him off the overpass and onto the grass below. Upon landing he suffered a compound fracture in his elbow, which required four surgeries.
Suddenly, the man who felt destined for the NFL realized that that opportunity may have shattered along with his bones.
"I thought I'd never play football again," said Parker, whose jaw was wired shut for six months after the collision. "But both [FAU assistant coach] Fred O'Connor and my father basically told me if I work hard at it, I could get back on the field."
The doctors sided with Parker, though. They told him he'd never regain full mobility in his elbow - which receivers often need to snag off-target passes.
As expected, Parker missed the 2003 season. And that meant he missed history: FAU went 11-3, reaching the Division I-AA semifinals, a program milestone in just its third season. Parker was happy for his teammates but watching them throughout that run - as opposed to being a part of it - ate at him.
"Me looking at that, thinking I could have been a part of that and should have been a part of that, that motivated me even more to get back the next year," Parker said.
So, Parker, with the steadfast support of O'Connor and his father, vowed he'd defy the medical odds and be there for the next program-defining moment.
He kept his football mind sharp by attending team meetings at the Tom Oxley Athletic Center. He attacked rehab with the same intensity he would a jump-ball.
And by the 2004 season, Parker not only made good on his promise, he played in all 12 of FAU's games, including an historic overtime win over Hawaii, the only team that season to defeat Hawaii at home.
"That gave me on outlook on life like, 'I can get through anything,'" Parker said.
"I believe if you put your mind to anything, and you're positive about everything in life and have a positive outlook, you can get through any situation … any situation. And especially if you have a support system - a strong system - behind you, the sky's the limit."
Parker never regained full mobility in his elbow, but he excelled nonetheless. In 2005, his final collegiate season, he set career highs in receptions (29) and yards (584) - both of which led the team.
That production piqued the interest of Canadian Football League scouts.
However, they wanted to see Parker carry it to the indoor level first. So, in 2007, he signed with the Odessa Roughnecks of the now-defunct Intense Football League.
Parker sacrificed family time - his wife and children remained home in Miami, over 1,500 miles from West Texas - to pursue his football dream. The dream was inching closer to reality though. He became one of the Roughnecks' most productive offensive players and was on the cusp of a CFL contract.
But then, in 2009, Parker's dream took another hit: he suffered a herniated disc in his lower back and dislocated his shoulder.
This time, however, there would be no improbable recovery. Parker knew his football career was over.
And after all he'd endured in getting to that point, Parker couldn't help but wonder, "why me?"
"I did think that," Parker admitted. "But I knew there were bigger and better things to come, and I knew I had kids to live for. So, if it wasn't meant for me to succeed in football the way I would have liked, I knew that I just had to be there for my kids. So, it was a 'why me?' moment, but overall I got over it, and I'm like, 'OK, I got kids that I need to focus on now.'"
To hone that focus, Parker returned to Miami and accepted a coordinator position at the supermarket chain Winn-Dixie. He worked there until 2017, then moved into the same role at Sun City Produce, a produce distribution company serving the Southeast U.S. Now, Parker facilitates product distribution to all major cruise lines in South Florida.
"I have to make sure that the product has a location so that it can be selected by the selectors, make it on time to the truck, and make it to the cruise lines," Parker said. "So, basically, I sit behind the computer and tell everybody where I want things go, where things need to be."
It's been 16 years since the crash that threatened his life. But as Parker reflects on the path he's taken since, he knows that very experience was the motivation behind it all.
"If I would have landed on concrete, I wouldn't be here today," Parker said. "But I landed in the grass, so I'm grateful for that every day."
Then, on June 29, 2003, the summer before his junior season, he nearly lost his career and life.
Parker got out of his car on State Road 9 in Miami to aid a crashed motorist. Fifteen minutes later he saw another car traveling 60 miles per hour, showing no signs of slowing, heading right toward him.
"Me thinking I was a top-flight athlete, I thought I could outrun the car instead of jumping over the guard rail," Parker said.
His athletic hubris failed him.
The car's windshield smashed into Parker's jaw, fracturing it in 18 places. The impact catapulted him off the overpass and onto the grass below. Upon landing he suffered a compound fracture in his elbow, which required four surgeries.
Suddenly, the man who felt destined for the NFL realized that that opportunity may have shattered along with his bones.
"I thought I'd never play football again," said Parker, whose jaw was wired shut for six months after the collision. "But both [FAU assistant coach] Fred O'Connor and my father basically told me if I work hard at it, I could get back on the field."
The doctors sided with Parker, though. They told him he'd never regain full mobility in his elbow - which receivers often need to snag off-target passes.
As expected, Parker missed the 2003 season. And that meant he missed history: FAU went 11-3, reaching the Division I-AA semifinals, a program milestone in just its third season. Parker was happy for his teammates but watching them throughout that run - as opposed to being a part of it - ate at him.
"Me looking at that, thinking I could have been a part of that and should have been a part of that, that motivated me even more to get back the next year," Parker said.
So, Parker, with the steadfast support of O'Connor and his father, vowed he'd defy the medical odds and be there for the next program-defining moment.
He kept his football mind sharp by attending team meetings at the Tom Oxley Athletic Center. He attacked rehab with the same intensity he would a jump-ball.
And by the 2004 season, Parker not only made good on his promise, he played in all 12 of FAU's games, including an historic overtime win over Hawaii, the only team that season to defeat Hawaii at home.
"That gave me on outlook on life like, 'I can get through anything,'" Parker said.
"I believe if you put your mind to anything, and you're positive about everything in life and have a positive outlook, you can get through any situation … any situation. And especially if you have a support system - a strong system - behind you, the sky's the limit."
Parker never regained full mobility in his elbow, but he excelled nonetheless. In 2005, his final collegiate season, he set career highs in receptions (29) and yards (584) - both of which led the team.
That production piqued the interest of Canadian Football League scouts.
However, they wanted to see Parker carry it to the indoor level first. So, in 2007, he signed with the Odessa Roughnecks of the now-defunct Intense Football League.
Parker sacrificed family time - his wife and children remained home in Miami, over 1,500 miles from West Texas - to pursue his football dream. The dream was inching closer to reality though. He became one of the Roughnecks' most productive offensive players and was on the cusp of a CFL contract.
But then, in 2009, Parker's dream took another hit: he suffered a herniated disc in his lower back and dislocated his shoulder.
This time, however, there would be no improbable recovery. Parker knew his football career was over.
And after all he'd endured in getting to that point, Parker couldn't help but wonder, "why me?"
"I did think that," Parker admitted. "But I knew there were bigger and better things to come, and I knew I had kids to live for. So, if it wasn't meant for me to succeed in football the way I would have liked, I knew that I just had to be there for my kids. So, it was a 'why me?' moment, but overall I got over it, and I'm like, 'OK, I got kids that I need to focus on now.'"
To hone that focus, Parker returned to Miami and accepted a coordinator position at the supermarket chain Winn-Dixie. He worked there until 2017, then moved into the same role at Sun City Produce, a produce distribution company serving the Southeast U.S. Now, Parker facilitates product distribution to all major cruise lines in South Florida.
"I have to make sure that the product has a location so that it can be selected by the selectors, make it on time to the truck, and make it to the cruise lines," Parker said. "So, basically, I sit behind the computer and tell everybody where I want things go, where things need to be."
It's been 16 years since the crash that threatened his life. But as Parker reflects on the path he's taken since, he knows that very experience was the motivation behind it all.
"If I would have landed on concrete, I wouldn't be here today," Parker said. "But I landed in the grass, so I'm grateful for that every day."
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