Preston Parker (born February 13, 1987) is a former

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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. He was signed by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

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 2010. 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 ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and The

University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama, United States. It is the state's oldest university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also ...

Early life

Parker graduated from Atlantic Community High School in 2006. PrepStar Magazine awarded him All-American honors following his senior season. After catching 45 passes for 1,150 yards with 11 touchdowns as a senior, The Florida Sports Writers Association selected Parker to the All-State first team in Class 5A. Rivals.com ranked him as the No. 12 wide receiver and gave him four stars. In 2006, on the Preseason Florida Top 100, Rivals also listed him as the second ranked wide receiver as well as the number 18th ranked overall player in the state of Florida. He finished his varsity career with 90 receptions for 1,960 yards, 30 touchdowns and, as a defensive back, received Class 5A all-state second team honors. He chose

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

over

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

College career

Freshman season

In 2006, as a true freshman for the

Seminoles The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

, Parker played in 10 games. He received playing time in the Seminoles'

Emerald Bowl The San Francisco Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA and played in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally named the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl during its first two editions from 2002 to 2003, it w ...

victory over

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He caught two passes for 26 yards and rushed for 13 yards on three attempts. He also returned one kickoff for 21 yards. During the 2006 season, he and one other player were the only two true freshmen wide receivers to record a reception.

Sophomore season

Parker played in every game that season for the Seminoles, including the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998 in sports, 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by ...

against

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. As a wide receiver he started in three games (Miami, Virginia Tech and Kentucky) and then two games at

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 ...

(Maryland, Florida). Rivals.com and

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

awarded him All-ACC second team honors as a wide receiver. As a punt returner, he was an All-ACC third team selection by Steele. Parker led the team in all purpose yards (1,513) and catches. He was second on the team in receiving yards, rushing attempts as well as rushing yards and was the team's leading punt returner. Out of anyone with more than five carries, he had the highest average yards per rush. With 9.82 yards per play, he placed ninth among all freshmen and sophomores in the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

and was third in the FBS amongst sophomores in average yards per play. At the conclusion of the season, he was nationally ranked 75th in all-purpose yards, 30th in punt returns and also 91st in receptions per game. He finished the season in the top 10 in the ACC for receptions per game (fifth), punt return average (third), all-purpose yards (seventh) and receiving yards per game (eighth). Parker was the first player to ever play for

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

to garner 80 yards rushing, receiving and returning kicks in a single game in the same season. He acquired averages of 116 yards of total offense per game, 61 yards per game and 13 yards per catch as a wide receiver. He accounted for 51 first downs (team high) and tied for the team lead with five touchdowns. Against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, he garnered 133 yards on 20 carries (career high) when he was forced into a starting rotation at running back due to injuries sustained by all three of the Seminoles' running backs. Parker had only five days to learn the new position and still had the second most productive rushing performance of the season by any Florida State running back. In 10 of the 12 games he played at as wide receiver he had at least four catches. He went on to finish the season tied for 10th all-time in single season receptions at FSU. He was the Seminoles' 2007 MVP.

Junior season

Parker opened the season with a two-game suspension due to legal issues. He played in 10 games and made eight starts. Even though he missed two games versus Western Carolina and UTC, Parker led all of the wide receivers with 40 catches and was also second on the team with 372 yards. In the last seven regular season games of the 2008 season he caught 34 passes which were twice as many as any other wide receiver on the team. In four of the last seven regular season games he had 50 yards or more receiving and averaged almost five catches per game after the win at NC State. In a win over Clemson, he recorded 169 all-purpose yards and 127 all-purpose yards in a loss at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

Legal troubles

Throughout his career at Florida State, Parker gathered numerous charges. In November 2006, he was arrested after Tallahassee police said he tried to steal a DVD. He entered a diversionary program and the charge was later dismissed. In April 2008, he was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm (felony) and possession of marijuana (misdemeanor).Parker was sentenced to one year of probation and was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service for pleading guilty to the marijuana charge. He was suspended for two games for the arrest and conviction. In January 2009, Parker was arrested for DUI after police found him passed out behind the wheel of his car. His

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...

was 0.054, which is well below the Florida legal limit of 0.08. Police said a urine sample was a "presumptive positive" for marijuana. Police also stated that Parker admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana the night before. With this being his third arrest, he was dismissed from the team. He finished his collegiate career at the

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After the 2010 collegiate season, Parker signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He made the team after performing well during the preseason. He garnered very little playing time and caught four passes in 9 games played. In his second year with the team, he gained 554 yards and scored 3 touchdowns. In 2012, he signed an exclusive rights deal, worth $540K for 1 year. On Thursday, September 20, 2012, he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the signing of

Tiquan Underwood Tiquan Underwood (born February 17, 1987) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who currently serves as the assistant wide receivers coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football a ...

New Orleans Saints

On January 3, 2013, the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

signed Parker to a futures contract. Although he performed well in training camp as both wide receiver and kick returner (including two touchdown catches in a preseason game against

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

), Parker was released on August 31, 2013, as part of the team's final preseason cuts.

New York Giants

New York Giants signed Preston on January 7, 2014. Parker had 36 catches for 418 yards and two touchdowns on the year. He also contributed to special teams as a returner. He was released by the Giants on September 22, 2015, after a series of crucial dropped passes in multiple games.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Preston 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Delray Beach, Florida American football wide receivers Florida State Seminoles football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New Orleans Saints players New York Giants players