Stan Parker was an all-around athlete in high school. He played Freshman, J.V. and Varsity football as a 9th grader. Stan was a 3-year starter on the Varsity football team. He was a 3-year starter on the Varsity basketball team. And as a sophomore, Stan was the starting catcher on the Varsity baseball team. Stan also gave up baseball to concentrate on his first love—football. Stan’s hard work paid off. He was named to the first team all shore and various All-County teams. He was a New York Daily News first team selection.

Stan received scholarship offers from Purdue University, Minnesota University, Illinois University, Delaware State University and North Carolina A&T University among others. He accepted a full scholarship to Purdue University. During his freshman year at Purdue, Stan started as defensive tackle on the Boilermaker Freshman Team. Sophomore year, he backed up All American defensive tackle Dave Butz, who later became a first round draft pick for the St. Louis Cardinals. Stan started as a defensive tackle during his Junior and Senior years at Purdue. Both years he placed 3rd in tackles.

Stan’s senior year highlights at Purdue include: (1) An upset of the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame, 31-20. During this game, Stan had a tipped pass that led to a touchdown. At the time, the University of Notre Dame was the reigning National Champs (1973); and (2) Against Northwestern University, Stan had two drive-stopping turnovers. The first was an interception that kept Northwestern University from scoring and the other was a fumble recovery. For these efforts, Stan was named "Midwest Lineman of the Week." Stan had a free agent tryout with the San Francisco 49ers in 1974. Things didn’t go as planned, so he returned to Purdue to complete his degree in physical education.

After graduating from Purdue in 1976, with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education, Stan began his education career as a Physical Education and Health teache