Look closely on Sunday afternoon during the NFL playoff game between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens. When the cameras focus in on Texans coach Gary Kubiak, somewhere in the direct vicinity will be Mike Parson.

The Vicksburg native, Warren Central and Mississippi State graduate is the assistant equipment manager and gets almost as much face time as the coach.

Parson first crossed my path years ago, on the Warren Central sidelines on a Friday night. As equipment manager for the Vikings, Parson arrived to school before the first bell and left long after the band had packed up and Mississippi 27 was traffic-free. It’s a work ethic he acquired from his single mother, Ernestine, who has worked many jobs to provide for the family.

After finishing his Friday night duties at WC, Parson would hitch a ride with a sports writer, come to our office and work — extending the 16-hour days by an extra three hours. The caveat always was we gave him a ride back to the family’s Elizabeth Circle home.

The neighborhood is frequented by police. Parson would scoff at those standing on the corner with an “up-to-no-good” demeanor. He heard the frequent police sirens, but he always resisted the call of those who could drag him down. He never got sucked in. He decried excuse-making. Hard work, he knew, would pay off.

It did — with a scholarship to MSU to work on the equipment staff. It was there Parson became a TV fixture. One of his jobs, he joked, was to stand next to then-MSU coach Jackie Sherrill and convey Sherrill’s disappointment at referees. Parson rarely holds back when trying to get a point across.

Stops with the New Orleans Saints and the University of New Orleans preceded his job as equipment services assistant with the Texans, a job he has held for four years. A win Sunday, and again next week, will have Parson and the Texans in the Super Bowl.

He had every reason to live in misery. He could have decried his family’s financial standing, or being raised by a single mother, or being discriminated because of the color of his skin, but he never has. He is a walking example of the splendor of America — whatever hardships are in your way, whether of your making or society’s, they can be overcome. It takes a strong back, an iron will and a thirst for success — three rare traits in most people.

He’s always looking forward. This year, he might be looking forward to the Super Bowl.