For those of you who remember 3-8.

[the_ouskull]

In fact, it could have been one of those NBA ads. John Blake football... Where 3-8 happens.

...and where wasting THIS talent happens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc_TAY44IWg

He could have won the Heisman in 1999 under Stoops. We could have scared a few more people with him too.

...but I don't think we'd have won it all in 2000.

So, he'll have to settle for having been a Packer for a while, and one of the best Sooners that hardly anybody knows forever. Figure him out yet?

the_ouskull

[PDXsooner]

that was easy -- we can thank him for a win over texas in '96

[PDXsooner]

i think i confused years -- parker ran for almost 300 in a loss the next year -- jared allen was the man in '96...

[the_ouskull]

It was James Allen...

Parker would have run for 400 if he hadn't had so many yards called back for holding...

I hate John Blake.

the_ouskull

[Crimsontothecore]

James Allen and Gerald Moore..aka "Thunder and Lightening"
Some of you may remember how the hype surrounding Allen was close to that that AD had coming out of high school.

As for Parker, the kid was a stud and I'm sure he spent a few sleepless nights wondering "what if" about his decision to leave out of support for Blake.

[the_ouskull]

Support for Blake?

It was support for baby, man. Lol.

And yeah, there was as much "James Allen will win the Heisman" talk from Sooner fans as there was "Ron 'Beano' Powlus will win two Heisman's" talk from Beano Cook.

the_ouskull

[PDXsooner]

damn, it's been a long time. those days sucked.

[stoopified]

that was easy -- we can thank him for a win over texas in '96I thank Parker for a lot but mostly for running over Schnelly in practice. :D

[Crimsontothecore]

Support for Blake?

It was support for baby, man. Lol.

And yeah, there was as much "James Allen will win the Heisman" talk from Sooner fans as there was "Ron 'Beano' Powlus will win two Heisman's" talk from Beano Cook.

the_ouskull

I'm sure the baby influenced his decision but I vividly remember him voicing his opinion that Blake was treated unfairly. It struck me at the time because if you remember, he was very shy and didn't do many interviews. When he did, he always had a ball cap pulled down so low that you couldn't see his eyes.
Anyway, he was nowhere near as vocal as Ahmed Kabba over Blake getting booted.

As for the thread title. I remember 3-8 like it was yesterday. I remember it so well that I get bashed here for not being disgruntled about our current "issues". I sat in the stands a lot during those dark times and after what Stoops had done I just can't wipe the smile off my face no matter how upset I'm supposed to be over the defense.

[OKC-SLC]

Anyway, he was nowhere near as vocal as Ahmed Kabba over Blake getting booted.

I'm sure we can find someone to catch 8 passes for us this year.

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

I'm sure we can find someone to catch 8 passes for us this year.

My favorite Stoops quote, ever.

[Schoonerbeer]

The 3-8 year was tough to swallow. I remember a guy I met laughing at me and making fun of me because I am a SOONER. Well, he is an aggie and I got my revenge with the 77-0 game and last Saturday with the 66-28 game. I get the last laugh and he is laughing out of the other side of his mouth. Poor aggie.


-----------------------BOOMER SOONER-----------------------------------

[badger]

We have a lot of guys go to the NFL early, so you really can't blame Stoops for not being able to keep him around, or De'mond for leaving. With his talent level and the money waiting for him on the other side, how could things have worked out differently?

Well, as a Packer fan (takes a bow), I remember Parker for the few seasons he had with us. He was never a feature-feature back like Dorsey Levens or Edgar Bennett was in the 90s, or what Ahmad Green and Ryan Grant were in the 00s, but he was good. Plus, he fanned his shoes off after scoring a touchdown to show how fast he was :D

I wish we still had him or another Packer around on our roster, but just like college careers get cut short at NO FAULT OF THE PLAYER OR THE COACHES, NFL careers get cut short too, also usually at no fault of the players or coaches. Injuries happen when bigger, faster and stronger guys are tackling you, roster spots are limited and the shelf live of an average player is less than four years, likely three or so.

So yes, De'mond Parker was a glorious beacon of light in a dark age for the Sooners, and he was a cute little TD celebration machine for the Packers, but can't say it all worked out too bad looking back about 10 years later, one national championship and five Big 12 championship trophies later.

[KingBarry]

..can't say it all worked out too bad looking back about 10 years later, one national championship and five Big 12 championship trophies later.

Yeah, things went fine for US. We just needed to get the right people in the right places, and the Sooners were destined to be back on top.

But poor De'mond. Has to be the best back in OU history that nobody ever heard of.

I've so often thought "what if" for him if he had stayed. After one-year under Stoops, he would have had a taste of successful football, had one-year of top-notch college coaching, and been in much better physical condition when he made the jump. What I am saying is that he would have been a more sought after NFL prospect one year later, and he would have had the Stoops maching fully behind him when he went. Also, there would be a lot more happy memories for us fans to associate with the name, besides just the apostrophe.

And in 1999 we were running-back poor. We had that little guy that got hurt (Thornton?) and had to pull the redshirt off of Q. At a minimum, keeping De'mond another year would have meant keeping Q another year -- and both 1999 (first year post De'mond) and 2003 (first year post-Q) both seemed like years when having a high-performance running back could have made a big difference in some key games.

Oh, well, c'est la vie. Wonder what De'mond is up to now?

[OUmillenium]

De'Mond was awesome. I was attending SWOSU at the time and we would always roll down to Norman and scalp tickets for $8-$15 bucks apiece then go sit in the student section about 20 rows. Good times, terrible teams, abysmal coaching

[badger]

But poor De'mond. Has to be the best back in OU history that nobody ever heard of.

I nominate Little Joe... or are you referring to OU fans? Wasn't Silver Shoes even nicknamed 'the best running back you never heard of' because of our probation and television uber ban?