Parker happy to be back on the field, producing for Mizzou
Daniel Parker Jr. could've been satisfied, but he wasn’t. He scored not one, but two touchdowns in Lexington last weekend — a career high. Missouri fell to Kentucky 35-28, which is the obvious reason why Parker’s two touchdowns meant less to him. But the feeling also had a lot to do with his newfound mentality. Putting up points or not, Parker says he now feels like his purpose goes beyond him.
Last year, Parker endured five months of radical surgery that began with what he thought was an inordinately irritable toothache. Yet when he sought medical help, he wound up going from a root canal to a handful of procedures, including nasal surgery, in order to save his eyesight. Doctors found three different types of bacteria that threatened to not just strip him of his vision in one eye, but possibly worse if left untreated or handled unsuccessfully.
After months of trials and tribulations and nearly a year of football later, Parker has regained his eyesight and is living comfortably. But there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t think about what could’ve been. He now leads his life differently than he did before the incident, just living in the moment.
“Each and every day I step foot on the field, man, I thank God for allowing me to do it,” Parker said. “That's one of the reasons why I'm a player who does not care about scoring touchdowns or the glory and the fame. I'm fine with sitting behind because I know that God's work is the only work that I'm here to do. I don't really care to be in the newspapers about touchdowns and stuff. As long as I'm doing God's work, I feel like I'm doing what needs to be done.”
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During the weeks that Parker spent anchored to his hospital bed, he had time to recflect and think about why things were happening the way they were at his lowest point.
“I never once, even when they told me that I would never be able to see my right eye ever again, I still never questioned God or who he is or what he does in my life,” Parker said. “It just made me buy into my relationship with him even more. And he brought me out of it.”
That mindset has helped Parker find himself on the field in his senior season, providing a necessary jab within the Tigers’ offense when his number is called.
Outside of the monstrous start that senior running back Tyler Badie has gotten off to, Missouri's offense has been inconsistent. When it isn’t relying on plays on the ground, MU has found some success through short passes in the air, still not quite connecting on the deep ball. Missouri’s tight ends have left their mark on the offense in that short stint.
The Tigers’ wide receivers have accounted for a single touchdown this season, with the tight end room accounting for three scores so far; one from junior Niko Hea versus Central Michigan and two from Parker at Kentucky in what felt like a breakout game for him.
But Parker’s impact extends beyond those few times quarterback Connor Bazelak can pitch it to him — especially in his own eyes. The 6-foot-2 tight end takes pride in freeing up his teammates even more than finding himself in the end zone.
“I will say this,” Parker said. “I had two touchdowns and three pancakes and those three pancakes meant a lot more to me than those two touchdowns. I take pride in blocking. That's what I do.”
His priorities haven’t gone unnoticed. Parker’s couple of scores and blocking kept Missouri in a game that it likely wouldn’t have been in otherwise with the way things were trending in Lexington. Bazelak realizes how much freedom he has as a playmaker when Parker plays at the level he did on Saturday.
“Yeah I think it's really helpful for me and also the wide receivers,” Bazelak said. “We have two really good tight ends when they're in the game. They gotta come down and play man on them which opens up the outside receivers too, so I think it kind of works within itself and really helps our offense.
“I was really happy for (Parker). He works his butt off in the run game, and he really prides himself on blocking and doing all that. But he's also a really good receiver, and so for him to get the opportunity to do that is really good.”
Parker knows his place within the offense, and accepts it more willingly than most. He understands there might be games where a game ends with him having zero touches. He also knows that there can be games where he finds himself in the end zone more than once. It all happens for him the way it’s meant to in his eyes.
Above his own yardage or receptions stands one thing on his to-do list on the field: impact his teammates in some way or form. Whether that’s blocking for Badie or reeling in a ball to quiet a road crowd of more than 50,000, Parker is just grateful to be playing the game again.
“I'm not really like one of those players who ever asks for the ball or complains about not getting it,” Parker said. “I'm really an unselfish player. I just like to see everybody around me succeed.”