By Joe Bendel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
On the side streets of Clinton, N.C., folks used to line up to watch Willie Parker race pit bulls.
"You should have seen it," Willie Parker Sr., said "I don't know where the idea came from, but they'd have a guy on the far end calling for the dog when the race started. You'd see those two at full gallop, running to the finish line. Willie didn't win, but it was amazing to see so much speed."
This is just another chapter in the legend of "Fast" Willie, a man who's been clocked at 4.23 seconds in the 40-yard dash, a man who hasn't lost a foot race (to a human being) since he finally beat a neighborhood kid nicknamed "Rabbit" his freshman year of college, a man who'd sprint by his father's car so he'd get home before the old man.
And a man who figures to start at tailback for the Steelers in the regular-season opener Sept. 11 against Tennessee.
"There's one word to describe him: 'Speed,' " cornerback Ike Taylor said.
Wide receiver Antwaan Randle El offered another.
"Mo-o-o-ving," Randle El said. "Man, can he move."
Parker, an undrafted second-year player from the University of North Carolina, is moving up the Steelers' depth chart with all the speed of those pit bulls, most recently surpassing Verron Haynes as the top backup to Jerome Bettis (calf) and Duce Staley (knee).
The best Parker can remember, he earned the nickname "Fast" in junior high.
"I was about 12 or 13 when I started to beat everybody in the neighborhood in races," Parker said. "But there was this one girl who used to beat all the boys -- and she even beat me. So, I started practicing on my speed, because I couldn't take a girl beating me. I finally beat her."
And the legend of "Fast" Willie was born.
Soon after, Parker was blazing his trail in the pee-wee football leagues of Clinton. Legend has it, his first run from scrimmage went for a 70-yard touchdown. The shows kept going from there.
"I would sit in the stands at his games and ask, 'Who is that fast boy running up and down the field,' " said Willie Sr., who coached his youngest son in grade school. "People would turn and say, 'That's Willie.' "
Those words were heard frequently during Parker's prep career at Clinton High. He ran for 1,801 yards, averaging 12.3 per carry, in leading Clinton to the state playoffs his senior year. As a junior, his 11.8 yards-per-carry average took Clinton to the North Carolina state title.
All was good in "Fast" Willie's world back then, especially when Carolina coach Carl Torbush handed him a scholarship.
"I was happy for the time being, but ..." Parker said.
This is where the legend of "Fast" Willie took a lengthy detour.
First, Torbush was replaced by John Bunting after Parker's freshman year, a year in which Parker ran for 355 yards on 84 carries. The Bunting-Parker pairing was the worst since Mike Tyson and Robyn Givens.
Bunting wanted Parker to gain weight and become more of a power back. Parker, who was 200 pounds at the time, wanted nothing to do with Bunting's plan.
"He said to me, 'If Willie ain't going to do it, it's my way or Willie's going to hit the highway,' "
Parker said of a conversation he had with Bunting.
Parker would never carry more than 83 times in each of his final three seasons, despite opening the year as a starter in his sophomore and junior seasons.
"They told him he (stunk)," fellow linebacker Joey Porter yelled earlier this week, when Parker was being interviewed about his college career. Parker shook his head in agreement.
But that might not be a complete characterization of what the North Carolina staff truly thought of Parker. Andre Powell, the running backs coach at UNC, arrived at Chapel Hill with Bunting in 2001. He offered some thoughts on Parker's unfulfilling college career.
"In retrospect, we probably could have done some things differently with Willie," Powell said Monday. "But we were trying to develop our own style. When we got there, North Carolina was a finesse team, but we were bound and determined to be a (physical) running team. We wanted things done a certain way. We have more 1,000-yard rushers in our history than any other program. We hadn't had one since 1997. We wanted to get back to that."
Parker, though, never bought into the new staff's power-ball philosophy.
"For whatever reason, we never could get on the same page," said Powell, who helped mentor Tiki Barber at the University of Virginia. "But we have a lot of respect for Willie here. In fact, of all the players I've coached, I'm most proud of him. He left here and went undrafted and now look at him -- he's on the verge of starting for the Pittsburgh Steelers."
Parker's father said Willie's problems at UNC went far deeper than a coaching change. Willie's best friend from home was murdered his sophomore year.
"He crumbled when he heard that," Willie Sr. said. "The coaches thought they could get him to open up, but they couldn't. He was down for a long time. But through all of this, Willie took everything like a man. He didn't complain about not playing at North Carolina. I'm surprised he didn't leave and go somewhere else. But he held strong, and he's made his way now."
The Steelers have seen Parker go from project to projectile, a bullet-fast back who is stronger than some might believe.
"It wouldn't be right to say he lacks power because he's not as big as Jerome and Duce (Staley)," free safety Chris Hope said of Parker, 5-foot-10, 209 pounds. "He doesn't have much body fat on him. That's all muscle. He has the combination -- speed and strength."
Parker has stood out in the preseason, rushing for 112 yards on 11 carries (10.2 per attempt), including sprints of 51, 37 and 21 yards. Cowher is so enamored with him that he's holding him out of tomorrow's preseason finale at Carolina to keep him healthy for the opener.
Teammates such as Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger sang Parker's praises in the locker room as recently as yesterday. He continues to sell himself to the coaching staff with his work ethic.
Parker's goal is to keep the legend of "Fast" Willie going, though he takes nothing for granted.
"I feel like a fighter, but it's not over," Parker said. "I got to keep fighting. There are a lot of people out there who don't know what Willie Parker can do because Willie Parker has been on the sideline for so long, even at Carolina. So, I really haven't made it yet. I haven't done anything yet."
Joe Bendel can be reached at joecbendel@aol.com or (412) 320-7811.
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