MANHATTAN, Kan.&nbsp;–&nbsp;<a>For a second time this season a Kansas State defensive back has been named the Jim Thorpe Award Player of the Week as senior&nbsp;AJ Parker&nbsp;picked up the accolade following his performance at TCU, the award’s organization announced Thursday.</a>It is the second honor for Parker following the game against the Horned Frogs as he was also named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after helping K-State earn a 21-14 victory in Fort Worth.A native of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Parker recorded a key touchdown on a 37-yard interception return to push the Wildcats’ advantage to 14 points with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter. It was the first interception-return touchdown in Parker’s career and the first by a Wildcat since Duke Shelley did so at Texas Tech in 2017.Parker, who also came away with five tackles at TCU, now has six career interceptions to rank 15th&nbsp;nationally among active players. He is also tied for fifth in the Big 12 this season in passes defended as the Wildcats have three players reside in the top six in that category.Next action for No. 22 Kansas State is on Saturday, October 24, as the Wildcats host Kansas for the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. Kickoff inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium is slated for 11 a.m., and the game will be shown on FS1.– k-statesports.com –

K-State's Parker Named Thorpe Player of the Week