He played under ex-St.Kilda defender Roy Apted who coached the young Blues to the 1976 Under 16 premiership in the Northern Tasmanian Junior Football Association (NTJFA).
Upon returning to Australia he played for the Launceston Casino City in the National Basketball League.
Most notably, he played at Launceston in the 1981 NBL Season, where they were league Champions.
He was then recruited to Sydney with the tenth pick in the 1987 VFL Draft but struggled to make an impact in his three years, although he gathered three Brownlow Medal votes for his 23 disposal effort in a match against the West Coast Eagles midway through his first season.
Parsons returned to North Adelaide in 1991 and finished the year as a member of another premiership team.