Fred A. Parnell, Class of 1926
Fred A. Parnell, Lee Road, Kingsville, Ohio, has been selected as one of the 16 charter members of Allegheny College’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Parnell was a football and track and field standout at Allegheny from 1922 through 1925.
A member of the class of 1926, Parnell earned three varsity letters in football and three letters in track and field and served as the captain of the football squad in 1924, his third and final year with the squad.
Parnell was named to the Campus All-Minor Eleven in 1924 and played with the teammates Robert “Tarzan” Fuller and Arthur Dahl in the All-East-All-West all-star game held in Cleveland for the benefit of the stadium fund. He was also named in Spaulding’s Football Guide of 1924 as an outstanding tackle in the East.
Parnell was named to the All-Time Allegheny Football Team in the Pittsburgh paper in the 1940’s, and he was offered a contract to play for the Frankfort Yellow Jackets professional football team, now known as the Philadelphia Eagles of the N.F.L.
Parnell played for the New York Giants of the N.F.L. from 1925 through 1928 as tackle, and as part-time punter and kicker. He also threw long passes for the Giants.
In track, Parnell held the College record in the discus, and he was the winner of the Triathlon at the Ohio State relays in 1924.
A member of the football team which recorded 6-3, 7-1, and 5-2 marks, respectively, Parnell studied for this first two years under Coach G. Herbert McCracken, who was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972 and who will also become a charter member of Allegheny’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
The 7-1 season tied a record for the most victories in a single season by an Allegheny grid quad, which was set in 1899 and tied in 1902 and in 1913 and was also tied in 1968 and in 1974, but has not yet been surpassed.
Parnell also served as freshman football coach at Lafayette from 1926 through 1928 under Head Coach McCracken.
A member of the Block A Club, the Dramatic Club, and the Men’s Glee Club, Parnell was also a member of the Alpha Chi Rho Fraternity.
Originally from Ashtabula, Ohio, Parnell attended Ashtabula High School.
