GDC
8/27/2006, 11:40 AM
Forgotten legacy
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
8/27/2006
De'Mond Parker's once-promising career is filled with 'what ifs'
De'Mond Parker has a succinct way to describe his National Football League career.
"Outta sight," said Parker, "outta mind."
Unfortunately, that description also works these days for the four tumultuous years Parker spent at the University of Oklahoma.
This summer's media fad has been to rank the greatest running backs in OU history. Adrian Peterson is the culprit for this craze; the Sooner junior is flirting with history at a school loaded with it.
A preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, Peterson could hold several school rushing records by the end of this season. And with the NFL beckoning, 2006 figures to be Peterson's last year at OU.
The interest in Peterson's dynamic talent has stirred debates and created lists. Seemingly everyone with a speck of OU football knowledge has produced an all-time list and decided where Peterson ranks on it.
The so-call experts seldom include Parker. That's sad. More importantly, it's dead wrong.
Remember Bum Phillips' comment about former Houston running back Earl Campbell? Asked if Campbell was the greatest back he'd seen, the ex-Oilers' coach said: "He may
not be at the head of the class, but whatever class he's in it doesn't take long to call the roll."
One could make a serious case that Parker belongs in a similar class at OU. After all, he remains the only Sooner to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season three times.
So why has the former Tulsa Booker T. Washington standout quickly faded from memory even though he's been gone from Norman less than 10 years?
The primary reason is that Parker had the misfortune of being a Sooner during one of the most turbulent periods in OU history.
He was a redshirt freshman in Howard ***************'s one disastrous season. He then played three years for John Blake, who took the program to its lowest point in history.
"We had good players," Parker said. "But the coaches we had didn't put the right players in the right positions."
Blake's three-year circus took its toll on the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Parker. Things got so bad in Parker's junior season that OU changed quarterbacks seven times in one game, and scrapped the offensive scheme (Wishbone) it had worked on all spring and fall after the first game.
That incredible buffoonery resulted in a 12-22 record. It cost Blake his job and convinced Parker he needed a fresh start.
"We couldn't pass the ball, so I took a real beating my last year," Parker said. "Our coaches weren't the brightest guys."
Now 29, Parker returned to Tulsa after a short-lived professional career. He works a construction job while contemplating his future and wondering what might have been had he remained at OU for his senior season.
Tired of the pounding he took in 1998, Parker declared for the NFL draft after his junior season. He gave up his eligibility when he signed with super agent Leigh Steinberg just a few days before OU hired Bob Stoops to replace Blake.
Parker remains filled with regrets about his OU career. He's particularly sorry he didn't play his senior season for Stoops. He remains convinced that one season under Stoops would have ensured he was a first-round draft pick.
"I'd have made millions," Parker said. "I would be set for life."
With a baby daughter to support and disillusioned by his OU experience, Parker thought some NFL team would take him early in the 1999 draft. Instead, he waited until Green Bay selected him in the fifth round.
Even in hindsight, it's difficult to fault Parker's decision to leave OU early. He had no idea Stoops would turn OU around so quickly.
"If I could do it all over again, I would have definitely stayed in school," Parker said. "But I was young, and didn't know any better."
Done in by poor coaching at OU, he was further affected by bad advice. Agents convinced him he was ready for the NFL.
After all, he had ripped off a Red River Shootout series record 291 yards against Texas as a sophomore. That staggering total could have been well over 300 yards if several runs (including a 65-yarder) hadn't been nullified by penalties.
Disappointed that he didn't go until the fifth round, Parker signed a three-year deal with Green Bay for $725,000. He planned to prove himself his rookie season and then strike it rich with his second contract.
That goal appeared on track when Parker became a starter when Dorsey Levens was injured. In his second start, Parker rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Chicago Bears.
His 1999 season ended two games later. Returning a kick off against Tampa Bay, Parker tore an anterior cruciate ligament when a Bucs' defender rolled over his knee.
"After I got hurt," Parker said, "things spiraled down for me. "
His rehabilitation limited him to the final eight games of his second season. Green Bay then shocked him when he was cut in 2001.
"The Packers thought I had lost too much speed and quickness," said Parker, who ran a 4.3 40-yard dash at OU. "So they didn't keep me around."
Parker bounced from Detroit to Buffalo and finally Toronto of the Canadian Football League. When Toronto put him on the practice squad before the start of the 2004 season, Parker called it quits and headed to Tulsa.
"By that time I was so discouraged and down on the game that I just wanted to come home," Parker said.
Parker has continued to follow OU. He was keenly interested in Stoops' first season, when the Sooners went 7-5. He's convinced that had he stayed, he could have helped OU beat Notre Dame and Texas, two games the Sooners led before faltering.
Stoops certainly wanted Parker to return. Had that happened, Stoops wouldn't have been forced to bring Quentin Griffin out of a redshirt season late in 1999. That move proved costly in 2003, when the Sooners desperately could have used Griffin as a fifth-year senior.
"I would have loved to play for coach Stoops," Parker said. "But those guys (agents) were telling me I was going to be a first-round pick.
"And I was tired of the whole situation in Norman. I was tired of losing and tired of getting my butt kicked every game."
Parker also kicked plenty of backsides, even though he played on bad teams. That's why he deserves his place among OU's best-ever backs.
How would Billy Sims or Joe Washington fared with the mediocre offensive lines Parker played behind? What would Parker have done in coach Barry Switzer's lethal Wishbone offense?
While we'll never know those answers, Parker isn't finished with the Sooners or football. He hopes to return to OU in the second semester to finish work on the degree he needs for a career as a strength and conditioning coach.
Parker's also convinced he can still play the game. Always on the slim side, Parker has sweated off 15 pounds working construction this brutally hot summer.
"I'm in good shape, but I need to gain some weight," Parker said. "I didn't play that much (in pro ball) so I still have fresh legs.
"Whether it's in the Arena League or wherever (NFL Europe), I'm very confident I can still play."
Just as some of us are confident he should never be out of sight or out of mind. When the roll of OU's greatest running backs is called, De'Mond Parker's name should never be absent from anyone's list.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online: Read Dave Sittler's blog at www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra..
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
8/27/2006
De'Mond Parker's once-promising career is filled with 'what ifs'
De'Mond Parker has a succinct way to describe his National Football League career.
"Outta sight," said Parker, "outta mind."
Unfortunately, that description also works these days for the four tumultuous years Parker spent at the University of Oklahoma.
This summer's media fad has been to rank the greatest running backs in OU history. Adrian Peterson is the culprit for this craze; the Sooner junior is flirting with history at a school loaded with it.
A preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, Peterson could hold several school rushing records by the end of this season. And with the NFL beckoning, 2006 figures to be Peterson's last year at OU.
The interest in Peterson's dynamic talent has stirred debates and created lists. Seemingly everyone with a speck of OU football knowledge has produced an all-time list and decided where Peterson ranks on it.
The so-call experts seldom include Parker. That's sad. More importantly, it's dead wrong.
Remember Bum Phillips' comment about former Houston running back Earl Campbell? Asked if Campbell was the greatest back he'd seen, the ex-Oilers' coach said: "He may
not be at the head of the class, but whatever class he's in it doesn't take long to call the roll."
One could make a serious case that Parker belongs in a similar class at OU. After all, he remains the only Sooner to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season three times.
So why has the former Tulsa Booker T. Washington standout quickly faded from memory even though he's been gone from Norman less than 10 years?
The primary reason is that Parker had the misfortune of being a Sooner during one of the most turbulent periods in OU history.
He was a redshirt freshman in Howard ***************'s one disastrous season. He then played three years for John Blake, who took the program to its lowest point in history.
"We had good players," Parker said. "But the coaches we had didn't put the right players in the right positions."
Blake's three-year circus took its toll on the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Parker. Things got so bad in Parker's junior season that OU changed quarterbacks seven times in one game, and scrapped the offensive scheme (Wishbone) it had worked on all spring and fall after the first game.
That incredible buffoonery resulted in a 12-22 record. It cost Blake his job and convinced Parker he needed a fresh start.
"We couldn't pass the ball, so I took a real beating my last year," Parker said. "Our coaches weren't the brightest guys."
Now 29, Parker returned to Tulsa after a short-lived professional career. He works a construction job while contemplating his future and wondering what might have been had he remained at OU for his senior season.
Tired of the pounding he took in 1998, Parker declared for the NFL draft after his junior season. He gave up his eligibility when he signed with super agent Leigh Steinberg just a few days before OU hired Bob Stoops to replace Blake.
Parker remains filled with regrets about his OU career. He's particularly sorry he didn't play his senior season for Stoops. He remains convinced that one season under Stoops would have ensured he was a first-round draft pick.
"I'd have made millions," Parker said. "I would be set for life."
With a baby daughter to support and disillusioned by his OU experience, Parker thought some NFL team would take him early in the 1999 draft. Instead, he waited until Green Bay selected him in the fifth round.
Even in hindsight, it's difficult to fault Parker's decision to leave OU early. He had no idea Stoops would turn OU around so quickly.
"If I could do it all over again, I would have definitely stayed in school," Parker said. "But I was young, and didn't know any better."
Done in by poor coaching at OU, he was further affected by bad advice. Agents convinced him he was ready for the NFL.
After all, he had ripped off a Red River Shootout series record 291 yards against Texas as a sophomore. That staggering total could have been well over 300 yards if several runs (including a 65-yarder) hadn't been nullified by penalties.
Disappointed that he didn't go until the fifth round, Parker signed a three-year deal with Green Bay for $725,000. He planned to prove himself his rookie season and then strike it rich with his second contract.
That goal appeared on track when Parker became a starter when Dorsey Levens was injured. In his second start, Parker rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Chicago Bears.
His 1999 season ended two games later. Returning a kick off against Tampa Bay, Parker tore an anterior cruciate ligament when a Bucs' defender rolled over his knee.
"After I got hurt," Parker said, "things spiraled down for me. "
His rehabilitation limited him to the final eight games of his second season. Green Bay then shocked him when he was cut in 2001.
"The Packers thought I had lost too much speed and quickness," said Parker, who ran a 4.3 40-yard dash at OU. "So they didn't keep me around."
Parker bounced from Detroit to Buffalo and finally Toronto of the Canadian Football League. When Toronto put him on the practice squad before the start of the 2004 season, Parker called it quits and headed to Tulsa.
"By that time I was so discouraged and down on the game that I just wanted to come home," Parker said.
Parker has continued to follow OU. He was keenly interested in Stoops' first season, when the Sooners went 7-5. He's convinced that had he stayed, he could have helped OU beat Notre Dame and Texas, two games the Sooners led before faltering.
Stoops certainly wanted Parker to return. Had that happened, Stoops wouldn't have been forced to bring Quentin Griffin out of a redshirt season late in 1999. That move proved costly in 2003, when the Sooners desperately could have used Griffin as a fifth-year senior.
"I would have loved to play for coach Stoops," Parker said. "But those guys (agents) were telling me I was going to be a first-round pick.
"And I was tired of the whole situation in Norman. I was tired of losing and tired of getting my butt kicked every game."
Parker also kicked plenty of backsides, even though he played on bad teams. That's why he deserves his place among OU's best-ever backs.
How would Billy Sims or Joe Washington fared with the mediocre offensive lines Parker played behind? What would Parker have done in coach Barry Switzer's lethal Wishbone offense?
While we'll never know those answers, Parker isn't finished with the Sooners or football. He hopes to return to OU in the second semester to finish work on the degree he needs for a career as a strength and conditioning coach.
Parker's also convinced he can still play the game. Always on the slim side, Parker has sweated off 15 pounds working construction this brutally hot summer.
"I'm in good shape, but I need to gain some weight," Parker said. "I didn't play that much (in pro ball) so I still have fresh legs.
"Whether it's in the Arena League or wherever (NFL Europe), I'm very confident I can still play."
Just as some of us are confident he should never be out of sight or out of mind. When the roll of OU's greatest running backs is called, De'Mond Parker's name should never be absent from anyone's list.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online: Read Dave Sittler's blog at www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra..