If Samie Parker lived in the wild kingdom, you’d expect him to be some kind of fast animal. Perhaps a cheetah or a leopard. Something that could outrun just about everything.
But the way Parker’s roommate, tight end George Wrighster, explains it, the Oregon wide receiver sounds like something you’d find at a butcher’s shop. Like a chicken or, gulp, a fat cow.
Wrighster’s reasoning? Parker likes to marinate.
“He’s just laying in bed marinating like a big piece of meat, soaking up all the juices,” Wrighster said.
The secret has been revealed. If you want to be fast — not just fast, super fast — marinate. Sleep. Save your energy. Keep your legs fresh. Only rise for a game day or a quick race.
OK, so it’s not quite that simple.
“I’m just a laid-back type of guy,” Parker said. “I don’t like going out there and being all wild and getting overexcited or anything like that. Some people get overexcited and get tired. I just like to relax and let things come to me.”
And then, like a wild beast eyeing its dinner, attack the prey. That, in a nutshell, seems to be Parker’s game plan against opposing defensive backs.
At 5-foot-10, 177 pounds, the junior from Long Beach, Calif., doesn’t look the part of an intimidating football player. But if he’s overlooked, even for a second, he’ll be gone. Eighty yards. Touchdown.
It’s happened before, most notably on a 79-yard touchdown reception in the Fiesta Bowl. It will happen again.
“I want to make acrobatic plays,” Parker said. “I want to make plays that energize the team and myself.”
With fellow starting receiver Keenan Howry slowed by injuries at the beginning of the season, Parker has been first-year quarterback Jason Fife’s main target. And with a team-high 38 receptions, Parker has been the most consistent receiver.
Parker caught a touchdown pass in each of the first four games this season, including a nine-catch, 161-yard performance against Fresno State on Sept. 7, when he took a 20-yard Fife pass and ran past two defenders for a 70-yard score.
“I’ve been saying all year that we have an awesome receiving corps,” Fife said. “I mean, Samie’s the guy that can run by people, Keenan’s the guy that will make plays when you need to and Jason Willis is kind of the unsung hero that makes the third-down conversion when you least expect it.
“The big thing that distinguishes all of them is that they all play with heart.”
Besides his easy-going manner, the big thing that separates Parker is his breakaway speed.
So how fast is Parker?

He and backup tailback Allan Amundson are clearly the fastest Ducks, but Parker gives his elder a bit more credit.
“I think I’d be a close call between me and Allan. I’d give Allan a slight edge,” Parker said.
The numbers back that up. According to the Oregon media guide, Amundson’s best 40-yard sprint is 4.53 seconds. Parker’s best is 4.56.
Both, by the way, serve double-duty for the Oregon track team. Parker anchored the Ducks’ 4×100 relay team last spring and finished fourth at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships 60-meter race with a time of 6.63 seconds.
“I do it for fun,” Parker said of his track participation, which he began as a high school freshman. “I have speed, so I want to show everybody I’m more than just a football player.”
As a football player, though, Parker can’t lose. He wears No. 1 for a reason.
A star receiver for Long Beach Poly High, perennially ranked as one of the top high school teams in the country, Parker set a school record with 1,214 receiving yards and a record-tying 16 touchdowns. The Jackrabbits’ only loss during Parker’s final season came at the hands of Kevin Mitchell’s Mater Dei team.
When he made the transition to Oregon, Parker had high expectations of himself. Despite being the team’s leading receiver, he says he has yet to reach those goals.
“I don’t think I’ve lived up to my expectations,” he said. “I still have things I need to do.”
The NFL is one of them.
Parker says he just wants a shot at playing professional football. Considering his speed, that opportunity should come his way after next season.
He just needs to keep marinating.