He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2014.

Parkey saw early success in his NFL career, being selected to the Pro Bowl that same year after being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.

He was also a member of the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans, and New Orleans Saints.

During a 2018–2019 Bears playoff game against his former team, the Eagles, Parkey missed a potential game-winning kick that became known as the Double Doink, striking an upright and the crossbar before falling to the ground.

[8] After a stellar preseason, Parkey beat out Alex Henery to be the Philadelphia Eagles' kicker for the 2014 season.

Parkey tied with Stephen Gostkowski for the highest average of points scored per game in the 2014 NFL season.

[19] On November 11, 2018, against the Detroit Lions, Parkey had four kicks (two extra points and two field goals) strike the uprights; none went through.

On his second attempt, Parkey's kick was a miss as the ball hit the left upright and crossbar before landing back out into the end zone.

[24] After the game, however, frame-by-frame replay showed that the kick was tipped by Eagles defensive tackle Treyvon Hester, which could have caused the ball to change trajectory and lean leftward.

[23] Five days after the miss, Parkey discussed it with anchors of NBC's Today show in an appearance, a move for which he did not get clearance from the Bears front office and received criticism from local sportswriters and fans.

I didn't necessarily think [the Today appearance] was too much of a ‘we’ thing.”[26][27] On February 22, 2019, it was reported Parkey would be released at the start of the league year after 11 missed kicks in his first season and $3.5 million guaranteed still on his 2019 contract.