Roscoe Parrish fulfilling his promise for Bills

TORONTO -- As Roscoe Parrish recalls, it was the middle of February. The phone rang in his Miami home and the voice at the other end identified himself as Chan Gailey, the Bills' new head coach. Here we go, Parrish thought to himself, the same old promises.

But Gailey didn't promise Parrish playing time. He promised him only one thing -- a chance. Maybe it was the tone of Gailey's voice, a ring of sincerity that resonated over the phone. But Parrish believed him. This time, he'd get a fair shot.

"He said, 'OK, I know you want to play,' " Parrish said this week before practice. "Nothing was going to be given to me, but with my kind of talent, I could make something happen in this offense. But I had to work."

"And he believed me," Gailey said, "and he came in and worked. And it's worked out for him."

Six years into his NFL career, Parrish has finally established himself as a viable receiver. Given regular duty as the slot receiver, he has been a reliable performer in Gailey's offense, on the verge of career highs as the Bills arrive at the seasonal midpoint today against the Bears at Rogers Centre.

Parrish has 26 receptions for 340 yards and a touchdown. He has 11 catches on third down, tied for seventh in the AFC. Four of the top five receiving days of his career, yardage-wise, have come in the Bills' last five games, since Ryan Fitzpatrick took over as quarterback.

He has been a revelation. I'll admit, I was wrong about Parrish. I dismissed him as too small and slight, a receiver who struggled with press coverage and didn't run the best routes and would never be more than a marginal fourth wideout.

Coaches talked about getting him more involved, but it never happened. It couldn't all be coaching. But in Gailey, he found an experienced offensive coach with the creativity to take advantage of Parrish's offensive gifts.

"Dick Jauron was more defensive-minded," Parrish said. "During my years with Dick, a lot was said to me in the offseason, but it never happened. With Chan, who is more of an offensive-minded guy, I just took it on myself to continue to work. I have to go out every week and contribute to the offense and take advantage of my opportunities. Once you do that, everything takes care of itself."

Under Jauron, Parrish felt he was stereotyped as a punt returner, a one-trick pony. And he was spectacular returning punts. In 2007-08, Parrish became the first player to lead the NFL in punt returns in consecutive seasons. He went into the 2009 season with the highest career punt return average (13.1) in league history.

But on a forgettable October day at Ralph Wilson Stadium, he muffed a punt that led to the winning field goal in Cleveland's 6-3 win over the Bills. Parrish was benched for four weeks. Losing his job as a punt returner was an utter humiliation. A week before the trade deadline, he and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, were pushing for a trade.

"Last year was very, very, very frustrating for me," Parrish said. "I didn't play a whole month. Not even playing punt returns, something I mastered and made a name for myself doing. It's just a moment in my career that humbled me more and made me realize anything can happen in this league. You just can't feel sorry for yourself, you know?

"You never know what tomorrow will bring."

Parrish had the will and toughness to endure. He's 5-9, 168 pounds, and he looks smaller up close. It takes a lot of courage for a man that size to absorb the physical pounding in an NFL game. Parrish takes the big hits and keeps on coming. He has good hands and agility to make tough catches along the sideline.

All he needed was a coach -- and a quarterback -- who would trust him. Fitzpatrick has developed a trust with all his receivers. Stevie Johnson's emergence has been a huge story. But Parrish has been an even bigger surprise, because so many people had written him off in Buffalo.

"Unfortunately, he didn't get much time last year," Fitzpatrick said. "But he's really played well this year. And we could tell from the offseason, from the work he put in. Chan gave him confidence -- 'Look, you're going to be one of our go-to guys,' and he responded to that."

Parrish has been a big go-to guy lately. Last week, he caught a 37-yard bomb from Fitzpatrick on a third-and-8 to set up the game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. Later in the fourth, he made a dazzling 33-yard punt return to set the Bills up near midfield.

On the first series of overtime, Parrish ran 13 yards on a reverse. Later, he caught a 12-yard pass on the drive ended by Rian Lindell's missed field goal. The bigger the moment, it seemed, the more the Bills wanted the football in his hands.

The 37-yard catch and 33-yard punt return were Parrish's two longest plays of the season. His last 40-plus catch was in 2007. He hasn't scored on a punt return since the '08 opener vs. Seattle. It seems only a matter of time before he breaks a long one.

"Yeah," Parrish said. "Chan pulled me aside last week and said, 'Be patient. It'll come.' Last year, when I got frustrated and I wasn't playing on offense, I tried to rush things. But you have to be patient. You never know when your time is going to come."

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(buffalonews.com)