Fast Willie’s run still standing tall in Super Bowl record book

The Super Bowl turns 50 this season. The previous 49 Super Bowls delivered some great plays and terrific performances. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Tom Brady hold many of the game’s most significant records.

Several Steelers own prominent places in the record book as well. Franco Harris has the most rushing yards (354) and most rushing attempts (101) in a career. Terry Bradshaw and John Stallworth own Super Bowl records, too, for yards per gain by pass and catch.

All three are Hall of Famers and are immortalized as part of the Super Steelers of the 1970s. 

And then there is former Steelers running back Willie Parker, an undrafted free agent who holds one of the most significant records in Super Bowl history.

Parker’s 75-yard run against Seattle in Super Bowl XL remains the longest run in the game’s history.

“That’s something I always cherish, but you have to give credit to the offensive line,” Parker said. “It’s easy when you’re the fastest guy on the field, just to run, make a move and then make a couple of guys miss and run straight ahead. The hardest thing about that run – and I always laugh about it – I was saying in my head, ‘Please don’t trip. Please don’t trip. Please don’t trip.’”

It was textbook blocking by the offensive line, including a perfect block by a pulling Alan Faneca, that allowed Parker to go untouched into the end zone.

When Parker meets someone for the first time they inevitably asked him to relive the run. Parker does with glee. Sometimes, when he is alone, he finds himself watching it over and over again on You Tube.

“I don’t really think about it often, but everyone I meet for the first time they always bring up that run,” he said. “They make me replay the whole run. Sometimes I’ll go to You Tube. I’ll type in ‘Willie Parker’ ‘Super Bowl XL’, ‘75 yards’. And I’ll look at it and see if I can remember every single step and what happened, just reliving the moment. That’s what everyone here is doing today, reliving the moment.”

Parker was one of more than 30 alumni from the Super Bowl XL team that returned to Pittsburgh for alumni weekend. They were honored at halftime Sunday and Parker did the Terrible Towel Twirl before the game.

Parker’s 75-yard run early in the third quarter of Super Bowl XL gave the Steelers a 14-3 lead in a game they eventually won, 21-10. He finished the game with 93 yards on 10 carries.

“It’s the biggest game,” Parker said. “Everyone wants to play in the Super Bowl. It’s every little kid’s dream that plays and loves football is to play in the biggest game. We did that. We’re back here today to have fun and bring back memories.”

Parker was a rookie in 2004 when the Steelers went 15-1 and lost to the Patriots in the AFC championship game. He said the road to the Super Bowl the next season was more satisfying in many ways that actually winning the game itself.

The Steelers were 7-5 and had to win their final four games just to make the playoffs. They were the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoffs and became the first team in NFL history to win three road games and win the Super Bowl.

“We came together as a team,” Parker said. “We went into games believing we were going to win. We knew we were going to win. The year before that, when we lost to the Patriots, I thought that was the better team.

“We had that three-game skid [in 2005] and then we put it all together. It was destiny. We did something no other team had ever done before. We were the first team to ever do that.”

Parker went on to earn a second Super Bowl ring with the Steelers in 2008. He was the Steelers’ leading rusher in Super Bowl XLIII, too, with 53 yards on 19 carries.

Parker would play one more season with the Steelers in 2009. He was 29 at the end of that season and never played another down in the NFL.