Roscoe Parrish, best punt returner in NFL history

[Mitchell55]

http://www.profootballhof.com/history/story.jsp?story_id=3125


Its a fact.

[LtFinFan66]

Yes, he currently leads in avg. Let's see how the next few years go before proclaiming this a "fact'

[yordad]

Awesome!!

[yordad]

Yes, he currently leads in avg. Let's see how the next few years go before proclaiming this a "fact'Just because he is still playing, does that make it somehow less of a fact?

[LtFinFan66]

yes. having the best average doesn't make someone the best in history


I admire his skills and am not trying to knock him

[BlackMetalNinja]

It's only one measureable, "best" is a subjective statement and can be viewed in many ways by many people. I love Roscoe and think he's incredibly talented, I would not at all call him the best in history though.

[Mr. Pink]

Just because you lead in a category doesn't make you "best ever"

Scoe in no way was better than guys like Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Rick Upchurch, Eric Metcalf, Az Zahir Hakim, Deion Sanders.

But when you're young, you won't remember guys like this....so it's ok.

Hell, Devin Hester is better than him now.

[yordad]

Job = return
He who does it best, would have the best return average.
Maybe there are other contributing factors, but what is- is.
If you want to say he isn't the most talented, then you of course can make an argument.
But, claiming his surrounding special teams talent or coaching is the reason, not his skills, does not make it any less of a fact that he has produced more then anyone one in history per return.
Best = best at it = Roscoe Parrish
You can ask "why", but it doesn't change "is".

[Mr. Pink]

Look at the list...

There's 4 HOFers on it.

Then ask yourself, will Scoe ever be a HOFer?

There's your answer if he's the best ever.

[Crazygoo]

parrish may be good, but best ever. I don't know about that

[yordad]

Look at the list...

There's 4 HOFers on it.

Then ask yourself, will Scoe ever be a HOFer?

There's your answer if he's the best ever.Really? If you don't see the error in that wisdom, I ... I... I mean seriously. No special teamer is in the hall, so you know they ain't in there for returning. And, I know you know this! I'm pretty sure those guys were a bit of alright at other positions.

[yordad]

So the "best ever" is somebody who wasn't the best at it? For a QB, or a DT, or a CB, this can be very ambiguous. But, when you say "best at returning punts", numbers don't lie. And, it isn't like he has had a small sample size.

Like I said, if you want to say "most skilled" or something like that, then you can argue all day.

Either way, I don't want to debate the language. I think it is pretty cool if you just say "he has the best return average ever".

[jamze132]

I think it would have been more accurate if it was said that Parrish currently has the best punt return average in NFL history. Doesn't necessarily make him the absolute best...yet.

[Syderick]

Right now he's doing well, probably better to say of active players average but who knows he maybe able to keep up that best punt return ave. As for Devin Hester he was great, but this last season was are a real down for him on returns. Both are still good returners though

[Oaf]

On an average returnable punt, Roscoe Parrish gains more yards then anyone else who's ever played the game.

[CuseJetsFan83]

this is about as great of a convo as pennington being best qb of all time....... he's the most accurate in terms of completion percentage...

roscoe is an excellent returner, albeit afraid of snow....... but to say all time, that remains to be seen.......

[yordad]

this is about as great of a convo as pennington being best qb of all time....... he's the most accurate in terms of completion percentage...

roscoe is an excellent returner, albeit afraid of snow....... but to say all time, that remains to be seen.......
So the "best ever" is somebody who wasn't the best at it? For a QB, or a DT, or a CB, this can be very ambiguous. But, when you say "best at returning punts", numbers don't lie. Is there only one stat for a QB? Because a returner does 1 thing. 1 thing. And he did it better, by definition, then anyone. No fancy equation neccisary.

[Forward_Lateral]

Eric Metcalf was the best ever. Period.

[Jan Reimers]

Back in the day, there were guys like Ollie Matson and Gayle Sayers who were pretty darned good, too.

[acehole]

http://www.profootballhof.com/history/story.jsp?story_id=3125


Its a fact.

Yea and some want to show him the door.
Just another one in a long list of talented
players that get here and are not utilized
or porrly coached. The pats will pick him
us to give welker a breather from running
all over us.

[Mitchell55]

Back in the day, there were guys like Ollie Matson and Gayle Sayers who were pretty darned good, too.



Gayle Sayers only had 2 PR TDs in his career.

[PECKERWOOD]

I don't think he is the best PR, ever, let alone the best PR in the NFL. I would rather have Reggie Bush or Devin Hester over Roscoe Parrish as a return man.

[psubills62]

I think it's a little early to say he's the best ever.

But I'm surprised no one's mentioned the actual numbers. Look at them. Parrish leads the next-best guy by MORE THAN A YARD average - 1.18 yards per return, to be exact. That is incredible. The next-largest difference between two consecutive players is 0.33 yards.


One thing people have to remember is that people like Hester may have more TD's, but since he has a lower average that tells you that he's much more inconsistent. Parrish will consistently get 10+ yards on a return, even if he doesn't break it open. Meanwhile Hester will break a few open, but will get shut down for the most part.

Really, average tells you all you need to know with punt returners - the other numbers only put it in context, like I did above with the TD's example.

[Spiderweb]

I think it's a little early to say he's the best ever.

But I'm surprised no one's mentioned the actual numbers. Look at them. Parrish leads the next-best guy by MORE THAN A YARD average - 1.18 yards per return, to be exact. That is incredible. The next-largest difference between two consecutive players is 0.33 yards.


One thing people have to remember is that people like Hester may have more TD's, but since he has a lower average that tells you that he's much more inconsistent. Parrish will consistently get 10+ yards on a return, even if he doesn't break it open. Meanwhile Hester will break a few open, but will get shut down for the most part.

Really, average tells you all you need to know with punt returners - the other numbers only put it in context, like I did above with the TD's example.

As for his ability to return punts, Roscoe is outstanding, but I can't help but wish some of his punt return skills would rub off on his WR skills....

[psubills62]

As for his ability to return punts, Roscoe is outstanding, but I can't help but wish some of his punt return skills would rub off on his WR skills....

Oh I completely agree. Despite my praise for his PR skills, I'm actually one of the people who would like to trade him this offseason because of his lack of contribution as a WR. We've got perfectly capabale PR's (Fred Jackson, McKelvin), and we could stand to upgrade at WR.

I'm personally thinking we either sign Mike Furrey for the slot position, or draft a guy like Mike Thomas (round 3) or Jarrett Dillard (round 4-5) to replace Parrish in the slot. Both of these guys are similar in size to Parrish, but have the route-running skills that Parrish seems to lack.