Raymond Klein Parker (December 16, 1913 – March 22, 1982)
Played for: Detroit Lions (1935–1936), Chicago Cardinals (1937–1943)
Coached: Chicago Cardinals (1949; Co-head coach), Detroit Lions (1951–1956), Pittsburgh Steelers (1957–1964)
Regular season record: 104–75–9 (.577), Postseason record: 3–1 (.750), Career: 107–76–9 (.581)
2-time NFL champion (1952, 1953)
Once upon a time, the Detroit Lions were on top pf the football world. Buddy Parker was a part of three championship teams for Detroit, initially starting out as a fullback in 1935, having grown up in Slaton Texas and attending both the University of North Texas and Centenary College in Louisiana. As a pro, Parker ran 180 times for 489 yards but won a championship in his rookie year before a trade to Chicago in 1937 saw him play and later coach for the then-Cardinals. He served as an assistant to the team in the 1940s before becoming a "co-head coach" in 1949 with Phil Handler to replace Jimmy Conzelman. It did not work out, as the team went 6-5-1 as Parker left the team after one season. He planned to just be a coach with the Lions for the backfield but found himself catapulted to head coach with the resignation of Bo McMillin in late 1950. Under first-year GM Nick Kerbawy* and second-year quarterback Bobby Layne to go along with a few acquisitions, the 1951 team went 7-4-1 and narrowly lost out on playing for the championship with a loss to the 49ers (as the Rams were 8-4). The 1952 team fared better. Cloyce Box (end) had a league-leading 15 touchdowns, Jack Christensen returned punts for a leading 21.5 yards per return and Layne had 1,999 passing yards while the defense allowed just 16 points per game (192 in a 12-game season). Six players from that team were eventual Hall of Famers: Layne, Christensen, Doak Walker, Yale Lary (defensive back and punter), Lou Creekmur, and Dick Stanfel. The Lions, tied with the Rams at 9-3 for first, defeated the Rams in Detroit 31-21 to get to the championship game for the first time in decades. They played the dynasty-era Browns, who under Paul Brown had reached the championship game of the AAFC all four years (1946-1949) and reached the NFL championship each time from 1950 to 1955*. In Cleveland, Walker and Layne teamed up to give the Lions a 17-7 win. The next year, now with rookie linebacker Joe Schmidt (a future Hall of Famer himself), the Lions soared even higher, with Layne throwing for 2,431 yards while outscoring teams 271 to 205 while losing only twice the whole year to go 10-2 and reach the NFL championship game against the Browns. In a narrow game that saw Bobby Layne and company with less than five minutes to go down the field, the Lions went 80 yards for a Layne touchdown before a subsequent interception (Otto Graham went 2-of-15 for Cleveland) clinched a 17-16 victory for Detroit at home. They were the third team to win back-to-back NFL championship games in NFL history...and that was the peak for Parker.
In fairness, 1954 was a decent year for the Lions. They went 9–2–1 while outscoring opponent 337 to 189. They then played the Browns (who they played one week earlier and beat) once more in the Championship Game. The slightly favored Lions were walloped 56-10 as they turned the ball over nine times (Cleveland turned it over four times) as Otto Graham threw and rushed for three touchdowns each. Ironically, Layne actually led the league in completion percentage in 1955 (53.0), which was also the final season with Walker as a middle-tier run game (1,477 yards, which actually was 10th in the league) was crushed by a bad pass defense (10th) for a 3-9 record where Layne missed two games as the Lions lost their first six in a row. With Layne taking up kicking duties as well for 1956, the Lions won their first six games in a row on their way to an 8-3 record facing the Chicago Bears. Layne got knocked out of the game on a hit by Ed Meadows and the Bears won 38-21 to finish 9-2-1 and get to the NFL championship game. As it turned out, that was the last game coached by Parker in Detroit. He traded for Tobin Rote from Green Bay in the offseason but in August 12...Parker resigned. George Wilson was promoted from assistant to head coach. Parker became coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks later and watched from afar as a Layne injury opened the door for Rote to lead the Lions to the championship that year.
Parker took over for the ailing Walt Kiesling and had a one game improvement in 1957, going 6-6 for a team that actually had a QB room of Earl Morrall, Len Dawson, and Jack Kemp (Morrall played while the 5th overall pick in Dawson made one start in three years and Kemp went elsewhere). In 1958, Parker traded Morrall and draft picks for Bobby Layne after losing the first two games. The Steelers started 1-4 but finished strong with a record of 7-4-1, which was the first over .500 season since 1949 and good for a third place finish. The 6–5–1 finish in 1959 meant that the Steelers had three straight seasons of .500 or better for the first time...ever. Parker's teams in Pittsburgh were a case of ups and downs, with the peaks coming in 1962 when they finished 2nd with a 9-5 record (New York had 12 wins in 1st), their first 2nd place finish since 1949. Layne retired and Parker's last two teams finished 7-4-3 and 5-9 before electing to quit in September of 1965 (the team proceeded to go 2-12). Parker spent the rest of his life out of head coaching, doing real estate and a bit of assistant coaching in 1978 (with the Cardinals, now in St. Louis) before dying in 1982 from complications of surgery at the age of 68 in Texas.
Has He Been Voted On?: It took a while for the Hall of Fame to look at him, twice in fact. The 2020 Centennial Class had him as a coaching finalist but did not elect him. He was a semifinalist/not the final cut for a few years before making it as a contributor finalist in 2024...but he did not get the 80% of the vote.
In closing: When Parker retired, he had 104 wins, 75 losses, and 9 ties. Nowadays, there are 44 head coaches with 100 wins in NFL history and Parker is 42nd. But let us consider the following. Do you know how many coaches in the top 44 started their career in the first 30 years of the NFL (1920-1950, which includes the AAFC)? Just five: George Halas (who coached on and off from 1920 to 1967 as the then all-time leader in wins with 318), Curly Lambeau (1921-1953, 226 wins), Steve Owen (1930-1953, 153 wins), Paul Brown (who coached until 1975, 213 wins), and then Parker.
If you want to stretch it to 1920-1970 to include the AFL and expansion teams, the list only grows to 13 with: Weeb Ewbank (1954; 130 wins), Sid Gillman (1955, 122 wins), Tom Landry (1960, 250 wins), Hank Stram (1960, 131 wins), Don Shula (1963, 328 wins), George Allen (1966; 116 wins), Bud Grant (1967, 158 wins), and Chuck Noll (1969, 193 wins). You may notice something from those coaches besides Parker: All of them are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In fact, Parker is one of just five head coaches with multiple championships that are not in the Hall, which includes Lou Saban (1964, 1965 - AFL), George Seifert (Super Bowls XXIV, XXIX), Mike Shanahan (XXXII, XXXIII), Tom Coughlin (XLII, XLVI). Tom Flores (who won XV, XVIII) only left the club of the snubbed in 2021. You might remember he went 83-53 with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders...before closing his career out with disaster in Seattle that saw him go 14-34. He went 97-87 as a head coach. Why does Parker (who went 6-5-1 in Chicago, 47-23-2 in Detroit, 51-47-6 in Pittsburgh) get punished for his obvious talents? In case you were wondering, Parker's .577 winning percentage isn't a detriment to his case, either, as even guys such as Ewbank made it in the hall despite a winning percentage of .502. In short, Parker deserved better and should've already been in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But our Hall rewards winners, so with that in mind....
On behalf of the Unsung Hall of Fame, it is my privilege to welcome Buddy Parker into the Hall.
Notes
*Since the AAFC statistics now count as legit among the NFL, yes, that means the Browns made the championship ten straight times. Before talking about Tom Brady and other title QBs, consider that Otto Graham, QB for the Browns from 1946 to 1955, never missed the championship game in his career.
Poor Nick Kerbawy. He got hired away by the Detroit Pistons in 1958 by owner Fred Zollner for plenty of money...and was fired after three years. He spent his remaining years watching sports and serving for the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, which he had created in 1954.
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