Sep 13, 2005 4 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sometimes it seems like good money tossed away needlessly, all those millions of dollars NFL teams spend to scout every available college player, even those who play or produce little. Willie Parker of the Pittsburgh Steelers is why they do it.

Occasionally, a player comes out of nowhere – a Division III powerhouse, a Division I-AA passing system, a major college bench – and excels in the NFL the way he couldn’t in college. Parker appears to be the latest such find after rushing for 161 yards and a touchdown and totaling 209 yards Sunday in the Steelers’ 34-7 victory over Tennessee.

A lot of first-round running backs spend a career without playing the kind of game Parker did in his first NFL start. No doubt there are a few University of North Carolina fans wondering how this guy almost never got off the bench as a senior.

His teammates knew the player they call Fast Willie had this in him – they’ve seen him break off too many long runs in practice. Also, he flashed his talent by running for 102 yards against Buffalo in what for the Steelers was a meaningless season-ending game in January.

But to do this well in the season opener, with Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley hurt and almost no one else for the Steelers to turn to, amazed even them.

“You have to look at where he came from, undrafted, unlooked at, nobody really knew who he was,” Bettis said Monday. “That’s a very humbling experience, but I think he appreciates the opportunities he has because he didn’t have them in college.”

Coach Bill Cowher said Parker will start Sunday in Houston, even if Bettis (calf) and Staley (knee) are healthy. After that, it’s a week-to-week decision.

That’s fine by Parker, who, until the training camp injuries, had an NFL career that was strictly day-to-day.

“I want to be a starter, but I’m not going to say I deserve anything,” Parker said. “I’m a role player around here. Jerome deserves it, because he’s a Hall of Famer. Duce deserves it. I’m going to stay away from that and just keep doing what I’m doing each day.”

The Steelers came up with Parker during that madcap scramble for undrafted rookies that occurs in the hours immediately after the draft ends every April. Each team signs 20 or more players to fill out their rosters, almost all of whom are gone by the last preseason game.

The 5-foot-10, 209-pound Parker made the team a year ago mostly because the Steelers have never had a back with his turn-the-corner speed. Now, he looks to be the kind of find that can get a scout promoted in a hurry.

“I don’t really think he knows what he’s doing right now,” wide receiver Cedrick Wilson said. “He’s a hardworking guy, you could see that in the offseason. Coach Cowher always talks about when your time comes to be ready, and that guy, he definitely seized his opportunity.”

Something Parker didn’t do at North Carolina, his home state, after becoming caught in a coaching change when former Saints assistant John Bunting replaced Carl Torbush in December 2000.

Parker rebelled at Bunting’s suggestion that he put on 10 pounds to better fit the Tar Heels’ power running game and, on the field, kept trying to bounce runs outside when the play was designed to go inside. As a result, he started only three times in 2001, twice in 2002 and none in 2003, when he had only 181 yards all season.

While he and Bunting are not friends, Parker has declined repeatedly to criticize his handling at North Carolina.

“I guess you’re looking for an “I told you so,’ but bygones are bygones,” Parker said. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d go back to North Carolina. I’m not going to blame it all on the coaches. I didn’t always run to the right hole, or I tried to do more than the play was supposed to be.”

Bettis said there’s a lot more Parker hasn’t shown yet.

“It’s a work in progress,” Bettis said. “But it’s a heck of a start.”