Willie Parker's no fraud

By Joe Starkey
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/
Friday, September 12, 2008


Steelers running back Willie Parker stiff-arms Houston's Fred Bennett en route to his first touchdown during the first quarter Sunday.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review

Maybe it's because he isn't built like the larger-than-life running backs of Steelers lore - Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis and John Henry Johnson.

Maybe it's because he let down so many fantasy football owners last season.

Maybe it's because he will never match the man he replaced - Bettis - as a media darling.

Maybe it's because he was undrafted.

Whatever the case, "Fast" Willie Parker can't seem to outrun his critics. They call him a track-star back who can't get tough yards, or, as Baltimore Ravens defensive end Trevor Pryce so memorably put it last season, "a fraud."

I must be missing something.

Are we talking about Amos Zereoue here, or a back who needs just 48 yards to pass Johnson for third place on the Steelers' all-time rushing list?

Parker has the best per-carry average (4.5) in franchise history, not to mention three of the club's top eight rushing seasons and two of its three highest single-game totals. He finished second in the NFL in 20-plus-yard runs last season, likely would have led the league in rushing if he hadn't been injured and had no problem grinding out tough yards two years ago, when he scored 13 rushing touchdowns.

Know what else? He keeps getting better. He has learned to change speeds and run more patiently.

But you go ahead and question Parker. Keep pointing out what he can't do. Keep finding reasons the Steelers should replace him.

He likes that.

"He's the first guy in here every day and probably the last guy to leave," receiver Hines Ward said.

True to form, Parker was among the last off the practice field Thursday. Dripping sweat and still trying to catch his breath, he considered the question carefully.

Why isn't he automatically mentioned when people speak of the NFL's top backs?

Fast Willie leaned forward, squinted and said, "One day, they are going to talk about me as one of the best. They'll have no other choice."

About the rap he is stopped too often at the line of scrimmage (31 times last season, fifth-most in the NFL according to an article on ESPN.com) and has too many negative-yardage carries?

"Watch me this year," Parker said. "That's all I'll say."

Then, he said some more: "In the past, I probably got too greedy and wanted to make the big play every time. Barry Sanders had that same problem. I know what to do now. I'm trying to get positive yards, even if it's two yards."

Parker's teammates back him on that. He flashed his form Sunday with a 138-yard, three-TD opener against Houston, stiff-arming tacklers, spinning away from them and running right through them.

"A lot of people think of him as a little back, and he's not," offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said of the 5-foot-10, 209-pound Parker. "He's a handful - a violent runner. I wouldn't trade him for anyone."

I would, but after LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson, I'd have to think hard before trading Parker for any other runner - and it's not like Peterson has proved his durability. Parker has the third-most rushing yards (4,012) in the NFL over the past three years.

Ward was among those who eased Parker's concerns when the team drafted Rashard Mendenhall, pointing out that it could help him.

Pardon Parker if he didn't pop a bottle of champagne that day.

"I'm the type of person where I jump to the craziest conclusions anyway," Parker said. "I thought the worst. That's the way I was thinking. But then, after talking to some people, they made me calm down."

Seems to me, Mendenhall was brought in to preserve and enhance Parker, not to replace him.

Parker isn't perfect. He's just one of the best running backs in the NFL, and already, at age 27, one of the best in Steelers' history.

"If he didn't get hurt, he would have led the league in rushing last year," said backup quarterback Charlie Batch, who is on injured reserve but has seen numerous elite runners in his years in the league. "He's a proven runner, deserving of all the credit he's getting."

Or not getting.

Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com.