Sept. 20, 2017
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. -- Cody Parkey made a lot of big kicks during his Auburn career. He still remembers the 35-yard field goal he made to beat Louisiana Monroe in 2012. He also drilled a 52-yard field goal against Missouri in the 2013 SEC championship game. It was his longest kick at Auburn, and it set the record for the title game.
But Parkey's 54-yard field goal to lead the Miami Dolphins past the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday might be tough to beat.
"There's definitely a handful at Auburn that I loved," Parkey said. "But I think this is near the top. I have a lot of good kicks on the resume, and unfortunately, I have a few bad ones. This one definitely ranks up there ahead of the bad ones."
There were no bad ones for Parkey on Sunday. He connected on all four of his field goal attempts, including the game-winner, and as a result, he was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week on Wednesday.
For Parkey, a native of Jupiter, Florida, it was even more special that he made the kick in his debut with the Dolphins.
"Growing up in the south Florida area, this was always the team I rooted for," he said. "So just to be able to go out there and throw on the jersey was cool enough, let alone my first game go out there and have four field goals. It was pretty surreal. It was a lot of fun. I'm extremely blessed to be where I'm at. I put in a lot of hard work, and it's just really cool seeing it all fully come together for me."
Parkey is now on his fourth NFL team in four seasons. But from Indianapolis to Philadelphia to Cleveland to now Miami, the one thing that has stayed constant is his love for the Auburn Tigers. He continues to keep up with the team he once kicked for.
"Gabe Wright is on the team with me down here, so we look at it together," Parkey said. "Through the good and the bad, we stick it out."
In fact, Parkey hasn't ruled out the possibility of coming back to Auburn at some point down the line. He might be kicking for his hometown team this season, but he can see himself returning to Auburn and starting a family there in the future.
"It's that kind of place," Parkey said. "You don't just want to go to school for four years and leave. You want to come back. And I think that's why you see all these guys -- the Ronnie Brown's, the Jason Cambell's -- all these successful players that just keep coming back because it's such a family atmosphere. I think that's just really awesome."
Parkey says the next chance he can get back and attend an Auburn football game, he'll be there. In the meantime, he's focused on doing what he's doing, remaining humble and making kicks. He's already a fan favorite in Auburn, and after Sunday's performance, he's quickly becoming a fan favorite in Miami.
"There are going to be kicks that I probably miss, but for now I'm just going to enjoy the moment," Parkey said. "I'm going to take each week as a new, fresh week whether good or bad happens and just go from there. That's kind of the mindset I've had since college."
Congrats to former @AuburnFootball Kicker @CParkey36! War Eagle! https://t.co/x7zNq1G2rL
-- Tim Horton (@CoachTimHorton) September 20, 2017
Greg Ostendorf is a Staff Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf