An offer to play for the Sacramento Mountain Lions was tempting, but Josh Parry was not interested.

His 9-year-old daughter’s basketball team in Lincoln needed a coach. At last, his family was going to come first. He was not going to sacrifice time with his wife and four children to play football.

Parry, 32, made that sacrifice when he toiled for three seasons in the NFL. He started at fullback for the Philadelphia Eagles in their 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

A foot injury ended his career after the 2006 season, which he spent with the Seattle Seahawks. Instead of trying to play again, Parry came to the conclusion that it was time to walk away.

“Once you mentally shut it down, it’s tough to get back to that mind-set,” he said. “It takes 100 percent dedication to play at that level. When I couldn’t play at that level, I knew I had to shut it down.”

Playing for a team is no longer as important as developing one with his wife of 10 years, Kelli. With three of their children playing soccer, the couple has turned into a coaching duo for each squad.

Nine-year-old Madison, 6-year-old Aiden, 4-year-old Shaelyn and all their teammates are benefiting from the tutelage of two former athletes. Kelli played soccer during her days at San Jose State.

Kelli first met Josh, who played linebacker with the Spartans, after she saw him in the university’s dining hall. He had lifted his plate to his mouth and was shoveling rice into his mouth.

She then turned to her friend and proclaimed he was the man she would marry one day.

“He had a girlfriend at the time,” Kelli recalled, “but I was going to wait until he was done with her.”

They were married on July 29, 2000. They moved to Lincoln in 2001 after Josh signed with the Eagles, sustained a knee injury and was let go with enough money for a down payment on a house.

Josh is now a software developer, and Kelli has her hands full at home with Shaelyn and 1-year-old Landen. It is a family night out whenever one of the children has soccer practice. All six go.

“Josh talks about a family dynamic,” Kelli said. “We want the players to think of the team as a family.”

Landen has become the mascot for Madison’s team, the under-10 Nitro. Landen has a habit of wandering across the field during practices, so Kelli incorporates him into a few of the drills.

Kelli challenges the players to navigate the drills without running into her toddler. That means the girls have to keep their eyes on Landen, each other and the ball as they go through a drill.

Several of the girls also played for Kelli’s team last year when she was pregnant with Landen. A new drill for Madison is sharing her little brother – and her parents – with her soccer sisters.

They’re all in the family.