ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—During four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Samie Parker had marginal success against his current employer, the Denver Broncos.
“I had a couple of good games,” said Parker. “I had a couple of bad ones.”
For the record, the fifth-year receiver caught 18 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns in six games against the Broncos. He has a good idea what caused the bad ones—Champ Bailey.
“Champ is a real good athlete and some of the things he does are amazing,” Parker said. “The main thing is he doesn’t often get beat.”
Could it have been a factor when Parker began shopping his services around the NFL and decided upon Denver after four years with the Chiefs? He indicated the numbers favored him if and Bailey were on the same team.
“Think of it,” he said. “Instead of just twice a year on Sunday, I get to work against him every day during the week. And only in practice.”
During Friday morning’s drills, there were several individual duels between the two. Parker never got the best of Bailey in those encounters.
“He will make me a better receiver,” Parker said. “I take to mind that he never gets beaten and remind myself that any time I get the best of him in practice.”
Bailey would only wave off such suggestions, as he does when asked about his battles with the elite receivers of the NFL.
However, there is more to Parker signing a one-year deal with the Broncos than not having to deal with Bailey. He saw opportunity.
“I felt it was the best situation for me to be in,” Parker said. “The Broncos had Brandon Marshall and he was pretty much the only guy they had here that was established.”
Denver’s receiving corps had taken two hits since the end of the 2007 campaign, when the Broncos severed ties with Javon Walker and when Rod Smith announced his retirement.
“I wasn’t aware of the Rod Smith situation when I signed here,” he said. “I felt like I could compete against the rest of the guys here.”
He’s already begun to develop some chemistry with quarterback Jay Cutler.
“I feel comfortable with him,” Cutler said after the last offseason team camp. “I feel comfortable with all of the new receivers.”
Parker sees that working relationship continuing to grow as well having a better understanding of the different terminology and of the pass the routes that come with going to a new team. He also has a personal goal he wants to address in his time in Denver.
“I know in Denver, the receivers are expected to make big plays,” Parker said. “I want to keep that tradition going.”
During his time with the Chiefs, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2004 draft out of Oregon, he has career numbers of 110 catches for 1,529 yards and seven touchdowns. He recorded 500-yard receiving seasons for Kansas City in 2005-06.
Parker caught 41 passes for 561 yards in 2006 before giving way to first-round draft pick Dwayne Bowe. He had 24 catches for 298 yards and two TDs last year.
