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Donald Parham Jr. on His Road Back to Football and How He Feels Physically

Originally posted on FanNation Charger Report
By Nicholas Cothrel | Last updated 6/8/22

Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr. left last season's Week 15 game to the Chiefs on a stretcher as his body became motionless following a chilling injury in which he banged his head against the turf of the end zone in the first quarter.

Parham was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and was later declared to have a concussion.

Now, six months from the freighting injury that left Parham feeling hopeless on a Thursday night at SoFi Stadium, he's got a greater sense of appreciation for what's next in his playing career.

“It’s great. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime," Parham said at OTAs on what it felt like to return to the field. "I’m just taking advantage of every moment that I have back. After everything that happened, it feels good to be back, for sure.”

Parham said physically, he feels 100%. But that doesn't go without saying that the road it took him to reach this point took months. Parham shared that he didn't feel "back to normal" until the end of February to early March – the same timeframe where he was cleared to begin physical activity again.

With an overabundance of thoughts going through Parham's mind as he sat in the hospital just hours after the injury taking place, he did some reflecting. Parham was unsure if he'd play another game and thought long and hard about if this was the journey he wanted to continue to pursue.

“It was crazy because once it happened and I was in the hospital, I was like, ‘Will I ever play again?’ That reality set in very quick," he said. "I had to take my time and really just think about if this was something that I wanted to do for the rest of my career, just making sure that if this was what I wanted to do, I would make my mind up to do it and take the right precautions, listen to the doctors and what they say, that kind of thing.”

Ultimately, Parham is ready to move forward and put the significant scare behind him. He said his decision to continue playing stems from his love for the game and the family-type atmosphere that the Chargers' team embodies, giving him a strong desire to continue being apart of the special group.

Parham indicated that he's watched the replay of his injury many times. The injury caught national attention throughout the football landscape as the severity was quite substantial, granting him a surplus of outpouring support for his well-being.

“Where can’t I see it, you know? I’ve watched it," he said. "I’ve come to terms with that it happened. I’ve seen it a bunch of times and I’ve talked to the people that I love, the people around me in my circle, and they said, ‘Don’t rush coming back,’ and all of that kind of stuff, so that was my big thing: making sure that I was ready to come back. Once mid-March came around, I wanted to do this, I wanted to do it right and make sure that I’m taking the right steps and all of that kind of stuff.”

As Parham now works to attack the offseason, he's focusing on his lower-body strength as a point of emphasis entering the 2022 season.

"Pass-blocking, run-blocking, all of it," Parham said, in regards to what his lower body strength will contribute to. "I want to be an overall tight end, not just a pass-catcher."

Parham figures to serve as the Chargers' second tight end behind the newly signed Gerald Everett. Parham hauled in three touchdowns across 20 grabs last season.

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