Joshua David Parry (born April 5, 1978) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football Bowl S ...

. He was signed by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2001. Parry was also a member of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, Frankfurt Galaxy, and

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

Early life

Parry attended Sonora High School in

Sonora, California Sonora is the only incorporated city in Tuolumne County, California, United States, of which it is also the county seat. Founded during the California Gold Rush by Mexican miners from Sonora (after which the city is named), the city population ...

, where he played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He set a school record with 44 rushing touchdowns in his career.

College career

Parry played

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, and in his senior season, recorded 122 tackles and two

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s. His brother, Neil, who played alongside him at

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

, suffered a broken leg during his sophomore season, which led to a bacterial infection and the amputation of his foot. Neil later played for the Spartans in 2003 with a prosthetic leg.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Parry entered the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

but went undrafted. He was signed by the

for training camp and made it through the preseason until final cuts. He then spent the 2001 season on the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. Parry was re-signed by the Eagles to a future contract two days after their loss in the

NFC Championship game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Ame ...

. They assigned him to the Frankfurt Galaxy of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

, where he played linebacker and running back. He returned to the Eagles for training camp and the preseason, but following a knee injury during the 2002 preseason finale, Parry was not signed for the 2002 season. Parry was re-signed to a future contract again on January 30, 2003. He was converted to fullback during mini-camp in 2003. He was waived during final cuts again on August 31, 2003, but was re-signed to the team's practice squad on September 1. He was re-signed to a future contract on February 6, 2004, but was waived during final cuts again on September 1. He was re-signed to the team's practice squad on September 6, but was released on September 22. After the Eagles' starting fullback

Jon Ritchie Jon David Ritchie (born September 4, 1974) is an American former professional football fullback and current sports radio host who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Michigan for two se ...

suffered a torn ACL in a game against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, Parry was re-signed to a three-year contract on September 27 and assumed the starting job with Thomas Tapeh for the rest of the season. Parry beat out Ritchie for the starting job in training camp in 2005, and starting in all 16 games for the Eagles. In 2006, Parry was in competition with Tapeh for the starting fullback job.

Seattle Seahawks

Parry was traded to the

on September 2, 2006, after he lost out to Tapeh, in exchange for the team's seventh round selection in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, which turned out to be offensive tackle King Dunlap. Parry played in eight games for the Seahawks before he was placed on injured reserve on November 29 with a foot injury. He did not receive a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in some sports leagues, such as the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), and National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the term ...

tender from the Seahawks following the season, and became an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. He was re-signed to a two-year contract on March 5, 2007, but was waived during final roster cuts on September 1.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Josh 1978 births Living people Players of American football from Tuolumne County, California American football linebackers American football fullbacks San Jose State Spartans football players Philadelphia Eagles players Frankfurt Galaxy players Seattle Seahawks players People from Sonora, California