Parrish energizes team, crowd
Punt returner has career game
Hey, did you catch Roscoe Parrish’s 63-yard punt return?
If you didn’t, don’t feel bad. The Seattle Seahawks couldn’t catch him either.
In case anyone forgot, Parrish reminded everyone why he was the best punt return specialist in the NFL last season.
His spectacular now-you-see- him, now-you-don’t touchdown return provided a huge lift to the Bills in their 34-10 wipeout of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
The play capped a career day for Parrish, who broke his own team record with 120 yards on a personal-high six returns. He also surpassed Jeff Burris’ career record for punt return yards. Parrish now has 1,110 yards, 65 more than Burris accumulated from 1994-97.
Parrish’s third career punt return touchdown tied the club record held by Keith Moody, and Parrish became the first player in NFL history to take a punt back for a score in back-to-back, season-opening games.
“You’ve just got to have that swagger back there,” said Parrish, who led the NFL with a 16.3-yard average last season. “That’s the key, you know? When I return punts I try to have fun and trusting the guys in front of me, just knowing they are going to do a good job blocking. That first man you just can never let him tackle you.”
The first man? How about 11 guys?
It seemed like every member of the Seahawks’ coverage team had a shot at Parrish after he fielded the ball at his 37-yard line. True to his word, Parrish avoided the first defender, and then he danced, dodged, darted and spun past everyone else en route to the end zone.
“When you break a long run like that you don’t want to cut back inside because all the pursuing is coming from the inside,” Parrish said. “But the guys just did a good job of holding their blocks, and that’s a key thing in taking a punt return back.”
There are many reasons Parrish is such an exciting punt returner.
He uses great instincts and vision to read and set up blocks and anticipate where the creases are going to be. When he finds a hole, he’s decisive and hits the hole with a burst.
He’s also very fearless, fielding punts many players wouldn’t dare to. Last, but not least, Parrish is super elusive. In a crowd, his 5-foot-9, 161-pound frame is hard to find. In the open field, his short-area quickness makes it challenging for tacklers grab him and his teammates to block for him.
“When he touches the ball you can sense it in the stadium, people start to buzz. They expect him to do it,” said Bills head coach Dick Jauron. “Electrifying, I guess, is the right word for him. The guys do a great job. They block well, and then they stay alive because they know he may go by you three or four times in one run. You miss a block or get a block, you’ve got to get up and keep going because he keeps it alive for a long time.”
There were a lot of big plays by the Bills’ special teams, but Parrish is the one guy who gave the Seahawks the most headaches Sunday.
“Any guy who is really a good punt returner has great confidence given to him by his teammates,” said Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren. “I experienced that when we had Desmond Howard in Green Bay. You really believe every time the other team is going to punt to you, something good is going to happen, and that’s a contagious feeling.
“You couple that with an exceptionally talented kid doing it, you really have something. We missed some tackles, I think, but give the Bills credit. They did a great job today.”
