Donald Parham Jr. (born August 16, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at Stetson, and signed with the Detroit Lions as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2019.

College career

Parham played college football at Stetson. During his senior season, he had 85 receptions for 1,319 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

On May 10, 2019, Parham signed with the Detroit Lions after going undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was waived on May 12, 2019.

Washington Redskins

He signed with the Washington Redskins on June 7, 2019, after a minicamp tryout. Parham was waived on August 31, 2019, but re-signed to their practice squad on September 12. He was released on September 17, 2019.

Dallas Renegades

In the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

, he was selected in the ninth round by the

Dallas Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The team was founded as the Dallas Renegades by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayn ...

. In his second game versus the

Los Angeles Wildcats Los Angeles Wildcats is a name shared by several American football teams from Los Angeles: *Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL) The Los Angeles Wildcats (also reported in various media as Pacific Coast Wildcats, Los Angeles Wilson Wildcats and Wilson's ...

, Parham made five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Los Angeles Chargers

2020 season

Parham signed with the

on April 14, 2020. During his first game in week 4 against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

, Parham recorded his first career reception, a 19-yard touchdown pass from rookie quarterback Justin Herbert, during the 38–31 loss.

2021 season

While attempting to catch a pass during a week 15 game against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

, Parham dove for a ball in the back of the end zone. Without contacting an opponent he landed on his elbow and then rolled onto his back, which caused his head to make contact with the ground and go unconscious and demonstrated a fencing pose with rigid arms. After about 10 minutes, with arms still rigid and hands shaking, he was taken to

Harbor–UCLA Medical Center Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, is a 570-bed public teaching hospital located at 1000 West Carson Street in West Carson, an unincorporated area within Los Angeles County, California. As implied by the name, the hospital is owned by the Los Angel ...

and was said to be in stable condition, undergoing tests for a head injury. He was placed on injured reserve on December 25.

2022 season

On November 5, 2022, Parham was placed on injured reserve. He was activated on December 17.

NFL statistics

References

External links

Los Angeles Chargers bioStetson Hatters bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parham, Donald 1997 births Living people American football tight ends Stetson Hatters football players Dallas Renegades players Detroit Lions players Los Angeles Chargers players Players of American football from Florida Sportspeople from Lakeland, Florida Washington Redskins players African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople