Raymond Klein “Buddy” Parker was named as one of the two Pittsburgh Steelers nominees as a semi-finalist for the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame. Art Rooney Jr. was also nominated as one of the 54 in the senior and coach/contributor category. The committee will narrow the list to 12 seniors and 12 coaches/contributors in July. The committee will be allowed to select up to three members of the final 12 to be inducted into Canton in 2023.
Parker was nominated posthumously as he passed away in 1982. He began his head coaching career in 1949 with the Chicago Cardinals as a co-head coach with Phil Handler, but after one season, Parker unhappy with the arrangement, moved on to the Detroit Lions and spent 1950 as their backfield coach. Parker was promoted to head coach in 1951 after Bo McMillin wore out his welcome.
Parker turned the Lions around in his first season finishing second in the NFL National Division at 7-4-1, just behind the Los Angeles Rams at 8-4. Parker did not discover Bobby Layne, but in his fourth NFL season, Parker was part of his best season as a professional. Layne and Parker were a formidable team and in 1952, they combined to win the first of back-to-back championships for the Lions. That is not a misprint. The Lions once were kings of the NFL. Parker coached the Lions for six seasons and went 47-23-2 during his time in the Motor City.
He made the championship game three times in six seasons. Falling one game short of the playoffs one season, Parker watched Layne fall against the Chicago Bears in the season finale to a concussion on a cheap shot. Parker worked out a deal for Tobin Rote to come to the Lions in 1957 which turned out to be a fantastic decision when Layne broke his ankle early in the season and Rote led the Lions to their third championship of the decade in 1957.
Parker, after acquiring Rote just two weeks earlier, stunned the Lions by resigning at the team’s preseason training camp dinner on August 12th. He said he could no longer control his players during his speech, but it was no secret that he was frustrated with the Lions, who would not give him a two-year contract. In the nearly 70 years, since he abruptly left the Lions, he is the only head coach who got a head coaching job after leaving the Lions. It is worth noting that Detroit has not been to a championship or Super Bowl since their 1957 appearance behind Parker’s top assistant George Wilson and his off-season acquisition of Rote.
Parker was rumored to be replacing Weeb Ewbank in 1958, but the Baltimore Colts elected to stick with Ewbank who would lead the Colts to back-to-back championships on the arm of the former Steelers ninth round draft pick, Johnny Unitas. Instead, he chose to join Art Rooney and the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 1958 season with the tall task of reversing the nearly 30-year history of a losing culture in Pittsburgh. The Steelers had long been the Siberia of the NFL, but Parker was determined to change that.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Walter Stein/AP/Shutterstock (6649912a) Quarterback Bobby Layne, left, talks with coach Buddy Parker of the Pittsburgh Steelers before working out with the club in Pittsburgh, Pa. Layne was obtained from the Detroit Lions in a trade which saw the Steelers send quarterback Earl Morrall to the lions. Layne starred for Coach Parker when Parker coached the Lions before coming to Pittsburgh Steelers.
He began by sending a message in the preseason by cutting five veteran Steelers including the team’s leading rusher in 1957, Billy Wells. On October 6, 1958, he traded for his quarterback sending a future NFL MVP Earl Morrall and two first round picks to reunite with Layne. The pair had immediate success leading the Steelers to their best record in a decade finishing 7-4-1 and third place in the NFL East.
The Steelers finished 1959 at 6-5-1 and recorded the first back-to-back winning seasons in their history. The Steelers finished just under .500 for the next two seasons despite Eugene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb joining the team in 1961 and unofficially leading the league in sacks with 17. Unfortunately, they lost Layne halfway through the season, but the team had high hopes in 1962 with both players entering the season healthy.
The Steelers in 1962 started the season 3-4 and were seemingly headed for another losing season, but then the team caught fire and won 6 of their final 7, finishing 9-5 which would stand as the Steelers best record in a season until 1972, when they also got the first playoff win in franchise history. Parker’s last good Steelers team was the 1963 Steelers who had to deal with Lipscomb’s untimely death in the off-season and Layne hanging up his Hall of Fame cleats.
They finished 7-4-3 and battled for the playoffs all season. After a 5-9 team in 1964, Parker told Rooney his team was not that far away from a championship. Rooney and Pittsburgh were hungry for a winner, and they showed the faith in Parker that Detroit had not in 1957 and awarded him a three-year contract. Parker entered the 1965 preseason secure in his position, but after losing four consecutive preseason games he told Rooney:
"I can’t win with this bunch of stiffs."
He resigned September 5th before the first of the three seasons left on his contract. Parker would never coach again, but 14 seasons later, he did serve as a special assistant to Bud Wilkinson with the 1978 St. Louis Cardinals. Rooney and the Steelers were stunned, and they would flounder for four seasons until naming Chuck Noll as the new head coach. Rooney finally got it right and Pittsburgh went on to become the model franchise in the Super Bowl era with six Lombardi trophies and 36 playoff wins.
Parker quit on two teams, but he did win 104 games as a head coach. He was 3-1 in playoff games, the NFL only had championship games until the Super Bowl era unless teams tied for the division lead. Parker is only one of two NFL head coaches who have won multiple championships and is not in the Hall of Fame. The other coach is George Seifert who resigned his position with the San Francisco 49ers after back to back playoff losses.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Does Buddy Parker belong in the Hall of Fame for delivering championships to the Detroit Lions and turning the Pittsburgh Steelers around in the late 1950's and early 1960's? Or is he a quitter who should remain outside of the Hall of Fame? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
