David Parry beat the odds when he joined the Stanford football team five years ago as a walk-on and enjoyed a successful career, earning Pac-10 Conference laurels and starting in two Rose Bowls.

Now the 2010 Linn-Mar High School grad is determined to beat the odds again by playing in the National Football League.

Parry, a 6-foot-1, 308-pound defensive tackle, was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fifth round Saturday as the 151st overall pick in the draft.

Parry did not get any scholarship offers from Division I colleges while at Linn-Mar. Stanford and Iowa invited him to join their programs as invited walk-ons. He considered the Hawkeyes but headed west instead.

"They kind of thought that I was going to come," he said. "If they had offered me (a scholarship), I would have went there. But when I was looking at two walk-on opportunities, even though Iowa has a real good history of walk-ons, I couldn't turn down the education from Stanford."

Parry finished his political science degree this past December at Stanford in 4 1/2 years. He's thinking about law school some day.

"I'm not sure at this point," he said. "With all the unrest that's going on in the country now (in Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo.), it kind of makes me want to do something in government. We'll see what I do when we get to that point."

Stanford compiled a 54-13 record during his five years on the team. He took a red-shirt season as a true freshman in 2010 and worked as a reserve on the defensive line in 2011. He cracked the starting lineup near the end of the 2012 season.

He was in the starting lineup as a sophomore when Stanford beat Wisconsin in the 2013 Rose Bowl, one of the highlights of his collegiate career. He also helped Stanford win an important ballgame at Oregon, a national power.

"That was pretty close to winning the Rose Bowl as well," he said about beating the Ducks. "That was a pretty memorable game.

Stanford played in the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and two Rose Bowls during his career. "It's been a great run," he said.

Parry had 34 tackles and 4.5 sacks last season as a senior. He was named Honorable Mention in the Pac-10 and played in the East-West Shrine All-Star Game.

"It was tough coming out of high school with no offers, but looking back now I definitely wouldn't change anything," he said. "I was happy at Stanford and happy to be part of some great teams, and happy to come away with the lessons that I did from going to Stanford without a scholarship and not having anything given to me."

Parry eventually got his scholarship at Stanford, once he proved he could play at that level and make an important contribution. He was confident he would succeed, despite the steep odds.

"My parents have always supported me quite a bit," he explained. "My entire career leading up to that point, I hadn't found somebody that could really handle me on the football field. Playing here (at Linn-Mar), I think I was pretty dominant."

That feeling was reinforced when he attended football camps at Stanford, Cal, Iowa and Iowa State while in high school.

"I felt like I played at just as high a level as I did when I was playing against Jefferson and Kennedy," he said. "I truly felt coming out of high school that I can compete with anyone."

Parry enjoyed playing in the Shrine game against all-stars from around the country.

"It was cool getting to know some of those guys," he said. "It was also great competing against the best players in the country. I think I did well out there. Hopefully it helped my draft stock."

Parry participated in the NFL Combine and had individual workouts with Houston, San Francisco and Oakland. He's hired an agent and is anxious to get started on his pro career.