ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 30, 1996 TAG: 9612310046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
THE HOKIES' TAILBACK has tackled his off-field troubles and made an impact on the field.
Marcus Parker fumbled in July. Not in a football game, but in the game of life.
The Virginia Tech running back admits it.
``What I did was wrong,'' said Parker, who pleaded no contest to shoplifting two low-priced items from a Blacksburg grocery store in mid-summer. ``I had to pay for what I did. But now it's over with, and I'm just trying to move on.
``I look at it like this: All of us make mistakes in our life, and the challenge is how you get over those mistakes you made.''
Done deal, Parker said.
Evidence was supplied Sunday during media day at Pro Player Stadium. When the Hokies arrived to discuss their Tuesday night clash with Nebraska in the 63rd Orange Bowl, the former Salem High School star spoke publicly with reporters for the first time all season.
``For a long time I declined I didn't want to talk about it,'' said Parker, who turned down numerous interview requests by the media to Tech's sports information department. ``But now I figure it's time to get everything behind me and just move on.
``Hey, I'm back. I'm having a great time with the guys out here playing football - the game I love to play - and I'm going forward from here.''
It's a far cry from Aug.14, when Parker was suspended by Tech coach Frank Beamer a day before the Hokies opened fall practice.
``Marcus is such a great competitor that he was very down and very low,'' said Billy Hite, his Tech position coach. ``He was very embarrassed for the situation he put himself in, the situation he put his family in and the situation he put our football team in.''
Parker, after undergoing professional counseling at the order of Beamer, was reinstated to the squad Oct.8 before Tech's game against Temple.
Before his suspension was rescinded, the junior acknowledged he thought about taking a redshirt season, which still would have left him with two years of eligibility.
``For him to even come to me in the fourth week of the season about being redshirted I knew then he was not ready to come back,'' Hite said. ``But it was something we were going to force on him, because I didn't think we could be a successful football team without him in the backfield.''
Parker said Hite convinced him that he still could have a productive year in Tech's final seven games and help the Hokies to a fourth consecutive bowl.
``Coach Hite told me he felt I was a big part of this team,'' he said. ``When he told me that, I was like all right, I'll play. I had missed the first four games, but I figured I could give 'em all I had for the last seven.''
Parker's impact was immediate. He ran for 90 yards on six carries against Temple. He had 84 yards on 12 carries in the next game against Pitt. Two weeks later, he broke loose for a career-high 117 yards on 18 carries vs. East Carolina.
Parker, who basically alternated at tailback with junior Ken Oxendine for the rest of the regular season, finished with 467 yards (5.7 per carry).
Now comes the Orange Bowl, the biggest game in Tech's 106-year football history.
Because of the suspension of starter Brian Edmonds in the wake of allegations Edmonds and teammate James Crawford sexually assaulted a female Tech student, Parker has been moved to fullback.
There won't be any alternating against Nebraska. The Hokies will line up with Oxendine, who ran for 890 yards and 13 touchdowns at tailback. Parker will be at fullback, a position the Roanoke native has played the past two years.
``We're starting together for the first time, and that's exciting for us,'' Oxendine said. ``While we lose with Brian out as a blocker, at the same time, Marcus gives us more of a running threat, I think. Nebraska won't be able to take their eyes off either one of us.''
While Parker prefers playing tailback, he will do whatever the team requires.
``The tailback position is more of the glamour back for us they get most of the carries, most of the plays,'' Parker said. ``Fullback is more the workhorse. That's your power right there. And I've got to go in with my mind ready to block some people.
``But it's going to be fun back there with `Ox.' He's probably going to be our main running option, and that can open up some things for me. Both of us are explosive at any time. You'd have to watch for both of us.''
Hite said many Hokie fans have been asking him for a long time why he didn't start Oxendine and Parker.
``They're finally going to get their wish Tuesday night,'' Hite said.
Parker's wish already has been fulfilled. Finally, he has run away from the worst chapter of his life.
``He made a mistake. He paid for it. And now it's time to forget about it and play football,'' Hite said.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN Staff. Tech's Marcus Parker signs anby CNBautograph for Jonathan Brousseau, 10, of Pompano, Fla., on Sunday.
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RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
MIAMI