Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the CFL started tracking quarterback sacks as an individual defensive statistic in 1981, one year after James Parker came on the scene. Parker certainly dominated the catagory, recording 139.5 sacks, and setting the mark for everyone who came after him to shoot for. Parker was signed as a free agent by Edmonton in 1980, and believe it or not was released by Edmonton. The Eskimos rectified that mistake by resigning Parker for the final 7 games of 1980. Parker played three more seasons with Edmonton (1981-83) and recorded a total of 51 sacks over those three seasons. Parker was a West All-Sar in all three seasons, 1981 and 1982 at linebacker and 1983 at defensive end. Parker was also a CFL All-Star in both 1981 and 1982. Edmonton then traded Parker to BC for the 1984 season in what is surely one of the more lopsided trades in CFL history. Edmonton got BC's territorial exemption from the 1984 CFL College Draft in Laurent DesLauriers and the BC first round drft pick who turned out to be Frank Balkovec. Parker responded by having a career year for BC in 1984, recording 26.5 quarterback sacks. That won Parker West and CFL All-Stats as well as his first of two Outstanding Defensive Player Awards. Parker was a West and CFL All-Star again in 1985 and 1986, and won his second Outstanding Defensive Player award in 1986 when he recorded 22 sacks. Parker was traded from BC to Toronto in March of 1990 along with a fifth round draft pick and future considerations forthe rights to quarterback Major Harris. With 6 division All-Stars, 5 CFL All-Stars and a pair of Outstanding Defensive Player awards, James Parker was an easy selection for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2001. Parker's 139.5 quarterback sacks currently (2009) ranks fourth in CFL history and his 26.5 sacks in 1984 is still a CFL single season record.
GP, Tackles and Sacks
Year |
Team |
GP |
T |
ST |
Total |
TFL |
Yds |
KD |
Sacks |
Yds |
1980 |
EDM |
7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1981 |
EDM |
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
18.5 |
|
1982 |
EDM |
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
17.5 |
|
1983 |
EDM |
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
15 |
|
1984 |
BC |
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
26.5 |
|
1985 |
BC |
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
12 |
|
1986 |
BC |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
22 |
|
1987 |
BC |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
1988 |
BC |
18 |
29 |
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
|
1989 |
BC |
18 |
41 |
|
|
|
|
|
12 |
|
1990 |
TOR |
18 |
33 |
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
|
1991 |
TOR |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
Fumble Returns
Year |
Team |
FR |
Yds |
Avg |
TD |
Long |
OFR |
FF |
1980 |
EDM |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1981 |
EDM |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
1982 |
EDM |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1983 |
EDM |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
1984 |
BC |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1985 |
BC |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1986 |
BC |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1987 |
BC |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1988 |
BC |
5 |
43 |
8.6 |
1 |
43 |
0 |
|
1989 |
BC |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1990 |
TOR |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1991 |
TOR |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Fumbles
Year |
Team |
F |
FL |
1980 |
EDM |
0 |
0 |
1981 |
EDM |
0 |
0 |
1982 |
EDM |
1 |
1 |
1983 |
EDM |
0 |
0 |
1984 |
BC |
0 |
0 |
1985 |
BC |
0 |
0 |
1986 |
BC |
0 |
0 |
1987 |
BC |
0 |
0 |
1988 |
BC |
0 |
0 |
1989 |
BC |
0 |
0 |
1990 |
TOR |
0 |
0 |
1991 |
TOR |
0 |
0 |
|
|