Not so fast: Haynes, Staley and Parker want Bettis' job
Sunday, August 06, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The star of the Steelers' goal-line drills the previous two summers had to lobby his coaches to get back into the mix this year. Yesterday, Willie Parker reappeared at halfback as the live action started at the 5.
The message: Don't assume the job Jerome Bettis left automatically will go to either Verron Haynes or Duce Staley. Parker, who came from way behind in the pack a year ago to have one of the surprise seasons in the NFL with 1,202 yards rushing, wants it all.
"He's having probably as good a camp as anyone here," coach Bill Cowher said yesterday.
Parker did not score, gaining 3 yards on two carries, but he staked his claim and his coaches will consider it.
"He did such a good job for us last year and he's really shown, especially in this camp, that he's a strong inside runner," coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said. "So we wanted to give him an opportunity."
Parker scored last year and the year before, too, in the goal-line drills as the undrafted rookie from 2004 built his case to become the Steelers' starting halfback in his second season. But all last season, after Parker would help his offense deliver the ball inside the opponent's 5, on came The Bus to finish the trip. It's why Parker led the team with 1,202 yards, but scored just four touchdowns while Bettis ran for 368 yards and had nine scores.
Wednesday night, in the first goal-line drill of camp, Haynes and Staley got their chances, but not Parker. He told his coaches he'd like to stay on the field when the offense moves close to the end zone.
"If you're a running back," Parker said, "and you don't like goal-line [plays] and scoring touchdowns, I think you're in the wrong position or profession."
Parker will have chances to score touchdowns, and those could come on more occasions from 75 yards away rather than 5 yards. He ran that far early in the third quarter of the Super Bowl to stake the Steelers to a 14-3 lead against Seattle.
That record Super Bowl sprint guaranteed that Parker will be stuck with a nickname he never particularly embraced, Fast Willie Parker. Figuring if you can't beat them, join them, Parker had his representatives at Octagon trademark "Fast Willie." He's also what he calls a Verizon ambassador, pitching the company's high-speed Internet service, "Fast FIOS with Fast Willie Parker."
"I think it's a great deal, a great partnership, it's going to go a long ways," Parker said.
Ahh, but does Parker have that kind of longevity? It's a question he hears everywhere, although not to his face. It was about this time last year that he shot up the depth chart to become the team's starting halfback after early camp injuries to Staley and Bettis.
"If you think about Willie Parker a year ago at this camp," Cowher said. "He was probably the fourth back."
Then, he had to prove that, as an undrafted player who was fast and quick at 5 feet 10, 209 pounds, he could handle a season's worth of carries as a starter.
Now that he accomplished that with 225 carries and just 13/4 games missed out of 20, there is, as he says, "another question." And that is?
"Can he do it again?"
Parker added, "As long as I have something to prove,"
He no longer has to fight for a roster berth or beat anyone out for the starting job. Neither did the most productive season by a Steelers running back in the past five make him "the man" in Parker's eyes.
"Can I be a star?" Parker said, answering a question with a question. "The league is set up to put you up and then break you down. I can't even answer that question. I want to be a star in this league, but that's something I can't answer right now. The media builds you up and brings you down. That's the way life goes. That's just part of this game."
But Cowher talked yesterday as if he believes Parker can play better than he did during his breakout season of 2005.
"He has some confidence. You can see the way the kid's running, the way the kid's catching the ball, the way the kid's blocking," Cowher said.
Bettis, who mentored Parker and Haynes, is no longer in camp passing on lessons in football and life to the younger backs. Parker talks often with Bettis, who will work the NBC-TV studio for its Sunday night NFL games this season. The two chatted on the phone just before training camp started, talking nothing about football.
"What's the most important thing he passed on to me?" Parker wondered. "He passed on things way beyond football, about life, respect for others and things like that.
"I miss him a lot, but it's time for me to grow up from a football standpoint, move away from him."
Perhaps even take over his job at the goal line, too.
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(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878. )
Back
and
for FWP
I know it wasn't much different last year, but still...
