Super Bowl Champ Willie Parker Breaks Down Bear Necessities

RALEIGH — When your nickname’s Fast, you have to sure-enough bring it.

Like he did in the NFL, “Fast” Willie Parker took the handoff when it was his time to grab the mic, and he hit it hard.

“I don’t fit in, because I don’t want to fit in,” Parker told the student-athletes during Shaw University’s annual sports banquet in C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium on Monday. “I always want to be that different guy.”

Parker was different, all right. Here’s a guy who was the third-string running back in college for the North Carolina Tar Heels. But he kept working.

“In my mind, I was already a professional athlete,” Parker said.

The early morning workouts paid off. In 2004, the Pittsburgh Steelers picked him up as an undrafted free agent. His teammates weren’t really checking for him, didn’t exactly respect him — until they had to.

“My dad told me, ‘Be faster than everybody on the field,’” Parker said.

Parker was obedient. Those 5:30 a.m. workouts. Taking care of his body. Never mind the chatter from folks chirping, “What happened to Willie Parker?” The chirps turned into cheers when he was a difference maker on those Steelers Super Bowl teams in 2005 and 2008. Parker earned Pro Bowl spots in 2006 and 2007.

“You gotta keep working, keep working, keep working,” Parker insisted. “Hard work is working tirelessly over and over and over at a particular skill that you’re trying to accomplish or master.”

Masterful performances by the Bears this past season weren’t lost on Shaw University President Paulette Dillard.

“The university is grateful for each of you and is so proud of the way you have represented the university on the field of play and in the classroom,” she said.

Shaw University’s volleyball team won the CIAA championship. The women’s soccer team won the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Small College National Championship, as well as the inaugural NCAA Division II Independents Championship.

The president wants more.

“I’ve got 10 fingers. Therefore, I’m short a couple of rings,” Dillard quipped. “Volleyball has put a ring on it. Soccer has put a ring on it. So the rest of you need to …”

The president paused, sort of lofting a verbal set for the student-athletes, who spiked it.

“Put a ring on it!” the Bears roared.

The Shaw University Booster Club presented a $6,000 check to support the athletics department.