"But he actually tried to beat that dog. He did it several times, and you could see from the muscles in his legs that he was giving it his all."
Two-legged challengers posed less of a threat to Parker, who could step right out from the side door of the modest, three-bedroom house where he grew up and run for miles without ever encountering a car, much less a pit bull.
Across the street was a kid's dream -- Royal Lane Park, an 80-acre recreational facility -- and that's where Parker set about chasing his dream.
It didn't seem unrealistic because of Clinton's glorious tradition.
"This is a unique place as far as football," said former Clinton High coach Bob Lewis, whose teams at various stops have won six state championships. "People love football. Friday night, the stands are packed full. You would think maybe you were in a place like Pennsylvania or Texas, that kind of environment.
"That's the kind of environment Willie came up with; he was in the weight room working out with guys that had played in the NFL."
Three other players coached by Lewis -- running backs Leonard Henry and Jerris McPhail and defensive tackle Ronnie Dixon -- played in the NFL. And Clinton grad Dennis Owens, who graduated before Lewis arrived, played nose guard for the New England Patriots in the 1986 Super Bowl.
"I can't explain it, nobody can explain it," Lewis said of Clinton's fertile training ground. "It's like these guys crawl out of the woodwork."
Clinton won two state titles during Parker's three varsity seasons, and by the time he signed with North Carolina after rushing for 1,801 yards as a senior in 1998, Lewis considered him a can't-miss prospect, at least as gifted as the three dozen other players he had sent to Division I college programs.
A former North Carolina high school assistant -- Pittsburgh scout Dan Rooney Jr., son of the Steelers' owner -- also thought highly of him. At the same time Parker was averaging more than 10 yards a carry as a high school star, Rooney lived for about 1 1/2 years in Clinton. His wife, a doctor, worked at the same clinic as the high school's team physician.
Parker, though, never caught on at North Carolina.
The coach who signed him, Carl Torbush, was fired after Parker's freshman season. And then, in August 2001, while Parker was in Chapel Hill preparing for his sophomore season, his best friend, Jamar "Marty" Smith, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Clinton.
