From Player To Player Advocate
By Diane Silver
Eugene Parker (BS ’78 management) can still hear the cheers that erupted as the Boilermakers sprinted onto the Mackey Arena court for his first game against Indiana University.
“I had heard about the rivalry between Purdue and Indiana, but it really didn’t mean that much to me until we ran out on the floor and the fans just went crazy,” says Parker, who played guard for Purdue from 1975 through 1978 and earned most valuable player honors in 1976. The cheers shook him to his core. “I remember going through the lay-up line thinking this is what it is all about.”
More than 30 years later, Parker and his wife, June, have signed on as co-chairs of the $99.5 million campaign to renovate Mackey. They want to give other young athletes the same opportunities he enjoyed. Parker emphasizes, though, that there is much more than just cheering fans to the planned new Mackey complex and the experience of being an athlete at Purdue.
“College athletics gives you an opportunity to learn how to compete at the highest level,” Parker says. “It requires a lot of discipline and dedication and teamwork — all the things that are vital components to becoming a successful person. You develop poise when you’re playing in front of thousands of people on a regular basis. You have to maintain your concentration and focus to get your job done.”
Parker is especially pleased that the renovations will include academic facilities that will help student-athletes study and receive tutoring in the new Mackey complex.
Purdue’s academic excellence played a key role in Parker’s life by giving him the tools he needed to earn a law degree from Valparaiso University in 1982. Two years later, Parker combined his love of sports with his legal background to found Maximum Sports Management. Today, Sports Illustrated and ESPN call Parker one of the top agents in professional sports. In 2005, he was listed as one of the 50 Most Powerful Blacks in Sports by Black Enterprise.
In 1995, Parker made history when he negotiated a seven-year, $35 million contract with a $13 million signing bonus for Deion Sanders. At the time, the deal made Sanders the highest paid defensive player in the NFL. In 2004, Parker negotiated a six-year deal worth $60 million for wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to make Fitzgerald the highest paid rookie ever to play in the NFL.
Eugene and June have been married for 28 years and have five children. Two of their sons attend Purdue. A homemaker for most of her life, June Parker recently founded Divas Make It Happen, an organization that mentors young urban girls. The Parkers live in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are active members of the Summit City Christian Center. Parker also served on the Fort Wayne Airport Authority.
Parker says they are thrilled to be involved in the Mackey campaign. “It gives us an opportunity to give back.”
The other co-chairs of the Mackey campaign are New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees (BA ’00, industrial management) and Brittany Brees (BA ’00 organizational leadership and supervision) and Ernst & Young global vice chair for strategic communications and regulatory affairs and former Purdue forward Beth Brooke (BA ’81, management).