Willie Parker Willie Everette Parker , Jr . ( born November 11 , 1980 ) is a former American football running back who played for six seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League ( NFL ) . After playing college football for North Carolina , he was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2004 . Early years . Willie Parker was born in Clinton , North Carolina , attended Clinton High School , and was a letterman in football . He was a two - time All - Conference and a two - time All - Region honoree . As a junior , he rushed for 1 , 329 yards and 20 touchdowns and helped lead his team to the state AA title . As a senior , he rushed for 1 , 801 yards and 18 touchdowns ( while averaging 12 . 3 yards per carry ) and was also named the County Player of the Year . One of Parker ' s cousins is Leonard Henry , former Miami Dolphins running back . College career . He attended the University of North Carolina . In his first year he had some success with 355 yards on 84 carries , but was only used sparingly in his last three years due to decisions made by former head Coach John Bunting to restrict Parker ' s playing time until he " bulked up " to fit within Bunting ' s attempt at establishing a power running game . In addition , Parker ' s father has stated that he thought the murder of Parker ' s best friend from home during Parker ' s sophomore year made it difficult for him to adapt to the new system at North Carolina . Parker ' s experience as a backup in college has since drawn comparison to Hall of Famer Franco Harris , the Steelers all - time leading rusher and Super Bowl IX MVP , who served as a backup to Lydell Mitchell when he played at Penn State . Supposedly , Joe Paterno preferred Mitchell ' s style over Harris . Professional career . Pittsburgh Steelers . Parker was an undrafted free agent with the Steelers in 2004 . While at UNC , Parker displayed great speed , but little vision , resulting in inconsistent play which led to him being benched in favor of Ronnie McGill during his senior year . He spent the 2004 NFL season as a backup player behind Jerome Bettis , Duce Staley and Verron Haynes . During the 2004 season , he had his most impressive game in week 17 at Buffalo . Duce Staley started the game and played most of the first quarter , while Parker took over for the rest of the game . He ran for 102 yards in the remaining 3 quarters , including a very long sprint of 58 yards that was part of a game - controlling drive . The Steelers , playing mostly reserves ( third - stringer Brian St . Pierre played part of the game at QB ) had already sealed the top seed in the AFC that year , but for the Bills , a win could have meant the playoffs . After Parker ' s performance in this game , head coach Bill Cowher gave Parker extensive playing time during the 2005 preseason . In his second year , Parker earned the starting job after both Bettis ( hamstring ) and Staley ( knees ) missed the first part of the season with injuries . By default , Parker had to play the first game against the Tennessee Titans . He impressed Bill Cowher , as well as Titans coach Jeff Fisher , by gaining 161 rushing yards on 22 attempts ( 7 . 3 average ) . After following this performance with another 100 + yard game against the Houston Texans , Cowher gave Parker the starting position . " Fast Willie " started 15 of 16 games that season ( being injured week 9 against the Green Bay Packers and missed the week 10 contest against the Cleveland Browns ) , finishing with 255 carries for 1 , 202 yards ( 4 . 7 average , a career long 80 yard touchdown run in week 16 against the Browns ) and 4 touchdown s . He also finished the season with 218 yards receiving and one touchdown . Parker was the first Steeler back since Bettis in 2001 to top 1 , 000 yards in a season . Also , he is the second undrafted running back to rush for over 1 , 200 in the history of the NFL . ( Along with Priest Holmes ) In the third quarter of Super Bowl XL , Parker scored a 75 - yard touchdown , the longest rushing play in Super Bowl history , to give the Steelers a 14 – 3 lead over the Seattle Seahawks . The previous long was 74 yards by Marcus Allen in Super Bowl XVIII against the Washington Redskins . Parker finished the game with 93 yards on 10 carries and an average of 9 . 3 yards a carry , the third - best average in Super Bowl history ( minimum 10 carries ) . Parker gave his Super Bowl ring to his father Willie Parker Sr . as a gift . In 2006 , Parker signed a major contract with the Steelers , a four - year $ 13 . 6 million dollar deal that would solidify his future role on the team . Bill Cowher was quoted as saying that Parker would be a workhorse and receive the goal - line carries in his role as the starter , guaranteeing him the starring running - back role in Pittsburgh . On November 12 , 2006 , in a home game against the New Orleans Saints , Parker rushed for 213 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns , coming 5 yards short of the highest single - game rushing total in Steelers history . His two long gains of 72 and 76 yards set up touchdowns that capped off the Pittsburgh victory , 38 – 31 . His 76 - yard sprint late in the 4th quarter was the longest rush in Heinz Field history . On December 7 , against the Cleveland Browns , Parker broke the all - time Steelers rushing record for a single game , gaining 223 yards on 32 carries & 1 touchdown before being taken out of the game in the third quarter . The record was previously held by John " Frenchy " Fuqua . Parker also became the only Steelers running back to have two 200 + yard games in the same year . Parker played in ( and started ) all 16 regular season games . He compiled 1 , 494 yards on 337 carries ( 4 . 4 average ) with 13 rushing touchdowns . He also had 12 runs of 20 + yards . Parker also caught 31 passes for 222 yards ( 7 . 2 average ) and 3 touchdowns . In addition , his 16 combined scores broke the previous Steelers single - season touchdown mark of 15 set by Louis Lipps in 1987 . Parker served as a backup to LaDainian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson in his first Pro Bowl , where he would finish the game with 40 yards on 2 carries . Parker was productive in 2007 as well , rushing for 1 , 316 yards but only 2 total touchdowns . He had eight 100 - yard plus games , leading the league in that category and earning a second consecutive Pro Bowl berth before being injured late in the season . Parker suffered a broken right fibula early in a game against the St . Louis Rams on December 20 , 2007 , ending his season . He was replaced by backup Najeh Davenport . Parker led the league in rushing yardage at the time of his injury . Coming off of his broken leg near the end of the 2007 campaign , there were questions surrounding Willie Parker ' s ability to recover . He played little in the preseason , giving way to Rashard Mendenhall for much of the time . The first game of the year was against the Houston Texans . In this game , Parker would record 138 rushing yards and a career - high 3 touchdowns , all before the fourth quarter ever started . The Steelers got up 35 – 3 in the third quarter , and opted to pull some of their starting players . He was the leading AFC rusher for the week and was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week . However , Parker suffered a knee injury four games into the season , leading to five missed games . His back - up , Rashard Mendenhall , suffered a shoulder injury and was placed on injured reserve . The third - string running back , Mewelde Moore , produced well in Parker ' s absence , with 908 yards from scrimmage . Parker had four 100 - yard performances , while compiling 791 yards on 210 carries , for a 3 . 8 average ( worst of his career ) , and 5 TDs . He added only three receptions for 13 yards for an average of 4 . 3 yards per catch . Against the Chargers , Parker had his first 100 + yard game of his playoff career , compiling 146 yards on 27 carries and two TDs . The Steelers reached the Super Bowl again in 2008 and played Arizona Cardinals at Super Bowl XLIII . In Super Bowl XLIII , Parker was not able to make a significant impact , as the Pittsburgh Steelers were unable to establish a strong rushing game . He had 19 carries for only 53 yards , bringing his average to a mere 2 . 8 yards per carry , and no touchdowns . Regardless , with Ben Roethlisberger at the helm establishing the passing game , the Steelers went on collect their sixth championship ring in Super Bowl XLIII , becoming the first team in NFL history to obtain this amount . Parker began his final contract year with the Steelers as the starter for the first three games of the season , carrying for 19 , 47 , and 93 yards . He was injured with turf toe and missed two games after the injury . Rashard Mendenhall then started those three games and played well , leading to Mendenhall becoming the starter . Parker ran for 26 yards on seven carries against the Cleveland Browns when he returned to play . Washington Redskins . On April 2 , 2010 , Parker signed with the Washington Redskins , adding a third running back to Washington ' s committee of Clinton Portis and Larry Johnson . He was released during final cuts on September 4 , 2010 . Virginia Destroyers . On April 26 , 2011 , NFL . com reported that the Virginia Destroyers claimed Parker , along with many other free agent NFL players , though Parker has recently made comments about wanting to go back to the Steelers . He did not end up signing with the Destroyers . Retirement . On August 3 , 2012 , Parker officially retired . Coaching career . Parker became an assistant coach for the West Virginia Wesleyan College football team in July 2012 .