Fast Willie Parker

[USViking]

I am with Pittsburgh sentimentally because
their leading rusher, Willie Parker, went to
my alma mater, North Carolina.

Incredibly, he gained more yards this year
in the NFL (1200-plus) than he did in four
years in college (800-plus), even though
he suffered no serious injuries that I know
of while in school.

It was a case of lousy decisions by the
NC coaching staff:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tri...e/s_369212.html

(from the link):

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...

"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...

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. (blah, blah, blah, yackety-yack-
you can bet opposing recruiters are going to be putting those words
to their own good use- USV) 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."... (We still haven’t had one, Powell- USV).

Fast Willie didn't have a bad game againt the Colts;
he didn't have a great one either: 19-57 rushing,
3-19 recieving.

I would really like to see him bust a few long ones
in the next game or two.

 

[USViking]

I am with Pittsburgh sentimentally because
their leading rusher, Willie Parker, went to
my alma mater, North Carolina.

Incredibly, he gained more yards this year
in the NFL (1200-plus) than he did in four
years in college (800-plus), even though
he suffered no serious injuries that I know
of while in school.

It was a case of lousy decisions by the
NC coaching staff:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tri...e/s_369212.html

(from the link):
Fast Willie didn't have a bad game againt the Colts;
he didn't have a great one either: 19-57 rushing,
3-19 recieving.

I would really like to see him bust a few long ones
in the next game or two.

Well, Willie Parker busted one, a long one,
the longest run from scrimmage in Super Bowl history: 75 yards, TD.

Way to go!