Cord Parks had plenty of time to think about his future.
He may have been restoring classic cars, thinking about the kids football camp he helped run in Atlanta with a couple of Edmonton Eskimos alumni or whether he’d ever be playing football again.
Three days before CFL camps opened, the phone rang. It was Eskimos Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Ed Hervey and Parks was only too happy to accept an invitation to camp.
“I was sitting at home, waiting to see what would happen,” said Parks. “I was getting kind of nervous. It was getting close to camp and I’m telling my girlfriend ‘do I need to be looking for a job, or what?’ All I can do is embrace the situation. Just come in and do what I can to help.”
Parks made an instant impact in the Eskimos 23-13 pre-season win at Calgary, intercepting a ball as the defence ball-hawked and kept the Stampeders out of the end zone.
“It’s pre-season, but it was definitely good to get my hands on the ball like that,” said Parks. “We don’t want to jump the gun, but we hope it trickles over into the season. We had a great push by the defensive line, five turnovers. That’s something to build off.”
To say Parks came into camp more comfortable than most free agents – that would be easy to figure out.
He played his first two CFL seasons under Eskimos defensive co-ordinator Mike Benevides, the Lions head coach at the time. And he spoke highly of defensive backs coach Barron Miles, a former all-star performer in this league.
“It’s been a great transition for me,” said Parks. “Coach Miles and coach Benevides are awesome coaches, so I’m very excited about being in the Green and Gold. There are a few new things that have come in, but the basic core of it is pretty much familiar to me.
“They’ve changed a few things around that have made the defence more efficient and with the D line we have here, the secondary are lickin’ their chops because we know those guys are going to get off.”
Parks earned a mechanical engineering degree while playing football at Northeastern.
Now, he’s applying his knowledge to his passion of restoring antique vehicles.
“I’m a fiddler, so I like to work on cars,” Parks said. “I’ve got a few classic cars back home that I’ve worked on. I did a show a few years back, but I haven’t done any lately.”
The prize of his fleet is a limited edition 1987 Monte Carlo Aerocoupe SS.
“Everything’s original on it,” Parks said. “I try to keep it clean. There were only 200 of those made, so I’ve got one of the 200. I’m just keeping it in the garage, keeping it clean.”
That’s one of his hobbies. His other passion is giving back, training kids in off-season football camps.
“Me and a friend started a football program mentoring kids,’ said Parks. “We started the program where we do workouts on Sunday for inner-city school kids. They come out and work with professional athletes. Meanwhile, we can teach them about life. It’s been a great opportunity, something that’s helping me transition, maybe something I’d like to do after football.
“I’d probably want to get into coaching, so it’s been great for me.”