PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) — Clarence “Ace” Parker, the oldest member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has died. He was 101.
Bryan Johnson of B.W. Foster Funeral Home in Portsmouth says Parker died Wednesday.
Parker was a Portsmouth native who played football, basketball and baseball at Duke University, then starred with the NFL’s Brooklyn Dodgers from 1937-41. He won the league’s most valuable player award in 1940 for his exploits as a quarterback, defensive back and punter.
Parker left football in 1942 to serve in World War II, then returned to football with the Boston Yanks in 1945. Parker finished his career the following season in the rival American Football Conference playing quarterback for the New York Yankees.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
