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| Born | January 1, 1948 Santa Monica, California |
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| Died | July 22, 2009 (aged 61) Hawaii | ||
| Career information | |||
| Year(s) | 1971–1975 | ||
| NFL Draft | 1970 / Round: 6 / Pick: 146 | ||
| College | Long Beach State University | ||
| Professional teams | |||
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| Career stats | |||
| Receptions | 123 | ||
| Receiving yards | 1826 | ||
| Touchdowns | 7 | ||
| Stats at NFL.com | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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William James "Billy" Parks (January 1, 1948 – July 22, 2009) was a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He played five seasons for the San Diego Chargers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Houston Oilers.
Parks was one of the players (along with running back Mike Montgomery) acquired by the Dallas Cowboys in the August 1, 1972 trade that sent running back Duane Thomas to the San Diego Chargers.[1][2]
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Parks played quarterback at Culver City High School in the mid-1960s but converted to wide receiver at Santa Monica College.
He transfered to Long Beach State University where he became the school's first All-American. He had his best season as a sophomore in 1967 caching 79 passes (second in the nation) for 1294 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was named All-American in 1968 as a junior, but was injured much of his senior year.
Parks holds the school marks for receiving yards in a career (2,919), receiving yards in a game (298, versus UCSB in 1968), yards in a season (1,294 in 1967) and career touchdowns (22).
In 1986, he was inducted into the Long Beach State University Hall of Fame.
Parks was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the 6th round of the 1970 NFL draft. He sat the entire 1970 season and in 1971 as a rookie, led the NFL in catches (41 catches) during the first ten games of the season, before being sidelined with a broken arm.
The Chargers coveted running back Duane Thomas and before the start of the 1972 season, traded Parks along with running back Mike Montgomery to the Dallas Cowboys for him.
After a disappointing year where he had only 18 receptions, he was traded before the 1973 season to the Houston Oilers along with Billy Parks for their first and third round draft picks in the 1974 NFL Draft. For the first time in their history, the Dallas Cowboys had the first overall draft choice which they used to select Ed "Too Tall" Jones. With he third round they acquired, the Cowboys drafted Danny White.
During his first season with the Oilers in 1973, he had a career high of 43 catches. He grabbed another 20 passes in 1974 but only caught 1 pass in 10 games in 1975.
Parks retired after the 1975 season having played in the NFL for 5 seasons. He caught 123 passes for 1,826 yards and 7 touchdowns for his career.
Parks succumbed to melanoma at age 61 in Hawaii.[3]