Always a Gopher, but soon to be a graduate

Ray Parson was reading the Star Tribune in late February when he noticed Chip Scoggins' story on a program that encourages former Gophers to complete their degrees.

"I showed the story to a friend, Debbie, and she said, 'Why don't you get your degree?'" Parson said. "I told her if I did that, she would have to let me use her computer."

He made contact with the "Gopher Graduation Program." The quarter credits from his transcript were modified into semester credits.

"It worked out so I had 111 credits, and I needed another 30-some to get a degree in human development," Parson said. "This time next year, I'll be walking up the aisle for my diploma."

Parson walks with a cane these days because of a football injury to his left knee. There is also scar tissue across his stomach from the kidney and liver transplant surgery he underwent at the university's hospital on May 18, 2005.

"I have two birthdays in May -- the 30th, my real birthday, and the 18th, the day the doctors saved my life," he said. "Dr. [Abhinav] Humar was the transplant surgeon and Dr. [John] Lake was the liver specialist. Those are my guys."

Parson was a tight end for the Gophers in 1968 and 1969. He and Michigan's Jim Mandich were the offensive ends on the all-Big Ten team in 1969.

Parson grew up in Uniontown, Pa., the hometown of Sandy Stephens, the quarterback who took the Gophers to the Rose Bowl after the 1960 season. Bill Munsey, another Uniontown player, was a star halfback in both Rose Bowl seasons -- 1960 and 1961.

"We lived upstairs at the Munsey home when I was a kid," Parson said. "I was a few years younger, but I would work out with Sandy and Bill when they were home in the summer."

The athlete idolized by Parson was Syracuse halfback Ernie Davis, the first black player to win a Heisman Trophy, in 1961.

"Ernie was my cousin," Parson said. "He lived in Uniontown until he was 12. I wanted to be like him ... a star in football and basketball. And I was able to be that at Uniontown High School."

Davis also became the first black player to be drafted No. 1 overall in the NFL in 1962. A few weeks later, he was diagnosed with leukemia and never played pro football.

"What I remember best about Ernie is when he came back to Uniontown after winning the Heisman Trophy," Parson said. "He came in his new Thunderbird, and he let me drive it around town."

Parson had such a fine time being a great athlete in Uniontown that he spent little time with the books. That's how he wound up at McCook Junior College in Nebraska for two years.

"Bob Devaney, the Nebraska coach, told me later, 'I thought I had you hidden away there,'" Parson said.

It was tough to hide a Uniontown lad from Warmath and the Gophers. Ray Stephens, Sandy's brother, was at the university and was a close friend of Parson's.

"He was probably the No. 1 guy in convincing me to come here," Parson said. "And you know what? Ray is now in this same program, finishing his degree."

On Wednesday, Parson was sitting on a low wall outside the McNamara Alumni Center. Construction of the new football stadium was ongoing across the street.

"I love the outside ... reminds me of our old brickyard," he said. "It's already beautiful."

So what's the Gophers game Parson most remembers?

"At Michigan State in '69," he said. "I caught a pass [31 yards] from Phil Hagen late in the fourth quarter for the winning touchdown. I beat Donnie Law, a high school rival of mine, for the touchdown, and then I looked around and saw my cousin, Brad McLee, who played for the Spartans."