Bires: Not so "Fast," Willie

Mike Bires Times Sports Staff

Willie Parker desperately wants to tote the football again for the Steelers. However, he has a better chance of playing for the Virginia Destroyers than he does returning to Pittsburgh.

Last week during a radio interview on 93.7 The Fan, Parker all but begged the Steelers to re-sign him.

"I'd go straight back to Pittsburgh if I had my choice," he said. "I'd come back to Pittsburgh with my boys."

That's wishful thinking on Parker's part. But it's not going to happen.

Even though Rashard Mendenhall got in hot water with the Steelers' front office recently with his Osama bin Laden tweets, he's firmly entrenched as the No. 1 running back. He'll be only 24 this season and already has two 1,100-plus yard seasons on his resume.

Also on the roster is third-year running back Isaac Redman, who improved so much last year after spending most of his rookie season on the practice squad. Redman is a power back whose stock and reputation among his teammates rose dramatically after scoring the game-winning touchdown in a 13-10 win in Baltimore last December.

The Steelers are really high on Redman.

They also want to see what Jonathan Dwyer can do in his second pro season. Dwyer only appeared in one game last year, but was a productive runner at Georgia Tech where he rushed for 1,395 yards in consecutive seasons. As a junior, he was the ACC Offensive Player of the Year.

So the Steelers aren't ready to give up on Dwyer just yet.

And there's still a chance the Steelers may re-sign free agent Mewelde Moore or keep seventh-round draft pick Baron Batch, an intriguing prospect who played in a pass-happy spread offense at Texas Tech.

Simply put, the Steelers don't have any need for the 30-year-old Parker.
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/steelers/bires-not-so-fast-willie/article_09160ab9-b864-52a6-bde9-1e5c7ed418f2.html

sorry willie, i think youre done. i do appreciate a lot of what you have done for the steelers but its time to give it up

No. I will hit anyone with a stick who thinks otherwise.

I'm appreciative of everything FWP did to help us win a Super Bowl, but I'm happy with the backs we have ... as long as one of them keeps his thoughts to himself.

We've got Mendy, who's above average.
Redman, who I think is only going to get better.
Dwyer, who the jury is still out on but has shown some promise.
Moore, whose days are probably numbered.
Batch, who I'm really pulling for.

There's just no need for Parker.

BGSU A Dub wrote:

I wouldn't mind having FWP back. You never know what can happen to our backs over the season and FWP was a proven gamer when he was here. I like a guy that WANTS to play for a team.

If something happens to one of our backs, I'm confident he'll still be around if needed. I don't think he garnered any type of interest from any teams and will probably be sitting at home waiting for a phone call from a team with an injury issue. No need for him now at all.

Thanks for the job you did while here, Willie, but we've moved on.

BGSU A Dub wrote:

I wouldn't mind having FWP back. You never know what can happen to our backs over the season and FWP was a proven gamer when he was here. I like a guy that WANTS to play for a team.

If Batch is impressive, that will probably mean the end of Moore. So in order to resign FWP, do we drop Redman or Dwyer? With only 53 roster spots, we can keep only so many running backs.

Buddha is right, if FWP still had any gas in the tank, other teams would be knocking on his door. There seems to be no interest (at least that I've heard).