Every year in the NFL there seems to be an unheard of player that comes in under the radar and becomes a national phenomenon. A guy that most would say has one thing or another that will prevent him from becoming noteworthy. He’s not fast enough, not strong enough, has too little experience and most recently the fad has been he’s too small to hold up.
Then guys like Maurice Jones-Drew come in with nicknames like “Mighty Mouse” dawning red capes and overcoming their one shortcoming to become larger than life. Once they are on the radar teams game-plan for them, design offenses for them, we sign them to our fantasy teams and before long they are in Hawaii doing the Hula in the end-zone at the Pro-Bowl.
How often do we see a guy that is 5’9 on stilts, 209 pounds soaking wet that sat the bench in college at a school where they would rather watch basketball than breath and went undrafted turn into one of the best backs in the league? By every standard he is too small, not strong enough, certainly not experienced enough and no one even believed he was worth a 7th round draft pick. Yet Willie Parker has overcome all of these things to not only step into the oversized shoes of Jerome Bettis, but fill them without ever warranting criticism from loyal “bus fans”.
“Fast Willie” has taken his 4.2 speed and turned himself into a little black and gold bowling ball running around, between and through defenders for 4,012 and 19 touchdowns in the last 3 years. If he were just a few inches taller folks would be comparing him to Adrian Peterson as far as athletic ability, strength and speed. He led the NFL in rushing yards most of last season until he broke his leg in the first quarter of a week 16 game against the Rams. Over the off-season he was criticized heavily for his “lack of ability” to score touchdowns. Many experts said he was not an elite back yet again, and said Rashard Mendenhall would eventually take his job. Yet again Willie has proven to be what everyone said he wasn’t and couldn’t be. He began the season for the 2-0 Steelers by rushing for 138 yards and scoring three touchdowns against the Texans. Sunday night versus the Browns Parker came out and gave the Steelers another 100 plus yard performance on a night that boasted 60 MPH winds and gave little promise of throwing the ball all over the yard as the Steelers are now capable of doing.
Ladies and gentlemen allow me to introduce you to Fast Willie Parker. If he is not a blip on your radar screen yet I would suggest you take another look. Willie is blowing by defenses with hurricane force this season proving his strength, speed and determination are more than enough to wreak havoc wherever he decides to make landfall. Don’t sleep on this Carolina Hurricane because he is well on his way to a 2nd straight Pro-Bowl selection and a place among the elite backs in the league.
