Texas Tech football: The best seasons by a receiver in Red Raider history

No. 10: Dave Parks 1963

Playing wide receiver 37 years before Mike Leach brought the “Air Raid” to Lubbock, College Football Hall of Famer Dave Parks was Tech’s first star wide receiver.  And in his senior season of 1963, he set the bar for receivers on the South Plains.

At first glance, his 32 catches for 499 yards and 4 TDs don’t stand out to fans used to today’s video game numbers.  But stop to consider that those numbers would have been good for sixth, fifth, and third on the 2019 Red Raiders.

Parks was named a first-team All-American following that year and he was the first Red Raider ever to earn All-American honors by the Associated Press.  What’s more, his 32 receptions tied his own mark from the previous year for the most in a single season by a Red Raider.

In the 1964 NFL Draft, the Abilene native was taken No. 1 overall by the San Francisco 49ers.  To this day, he remains the only Red Raider taken as the first overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Parks was ahead of his time.  He played a position that was merely considered decoration by most programs in the nation.  Thus, he belongs on this list for his work in 1963 because that year was the forerunner to what Texas Tech football would become nearly four decades after his playing career ended.