| Date of birth: | December 28, 1948 |
| Place of birth: | Baytown, Texas |
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| Position(s): | Center |
| College: | North Texas |
| NFL Draft: | 1971 / Round: 3 / Pick: 75 (By the San Francisco 49ers) |
| Organizations | |
| As player: | |
| 1973-1979 1980 |
Buffalo Bills Detroit Lions |
| Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com | |
William Nolen Parker (born December 28, 1948 in Baytown, Texas) is a former American football center who played for eight seasons in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions.
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Parker played college football at North Texas University.
Parker was originally drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1971 NFL Draft, but he never played a game for them.
In 1977, his fifth year with the Buffalo Bills, Parker became their starting center,[1] replacing Mike Montler. Despite a strong middle of the offensive line with Parker flanking left guard Reggie McKenzie and Hall-of-Fame right guard Joe DeLamielleure in all 14 games, that team had a bad 3-11 won-lost record, the offense scoring only 160 points (11.4 points/game), 26th among 28 teams in the NFL. The team's fortune improved to 5-11 in 1978 and 7-9 in 1979, the first two years with Chuck Knox as the head coach, the same linemene trio up the middle in all 16 games during both years. However, in the following year, Parker was replaced by third year pro Will Grant.
In 1980, his final year in the NFL, Parker went to the Detroit Lions, starting only once in 4 games.