"Willie Parker talked to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin this week, and the halfback would not rule out his return to the Steelers.

But that is not what they talked about.

"Nothing dealing with football," Parker said Thursday from his home in North Carolina. "Not really dealing with Pittsburgh or anything like that. I respect him as a coach. One thing they always said, they would play the best guys. I guess I wasn't the best guy."

After a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoting a close associate of Parker's that he was bitter and would prefer to retire than return to the Steelers, Kirby Wilson, who coaches their backs, called Parker. Parker then called Tomlin.

Parker described his feelings as "a little salty," not bitter, and that he definitely is not ready to retire.

"There's a business side; you can't let your pride get in the way," said Parker. "That's a great organization with great people, great character. I can't be too bitter about what happened. I was a little salty, can't say I wasn't. But it's a business and the game I chose to play.

"If they can get rid of LaDainian Tomlinson like that in San Diego, a future Hall of Famer, they'll let anybody go. It's just the business we play in; it's a young man's game."

Parker finds himself unwanted again, or at least it seems that way, just the way it was when he went almost unnoticed at the University of North Carolina and undrafted by the NFL.

Parker is 29 and an unrestricted free agent who has had two visits with other teams, Washington and St. Louis, but no contract. His agent continues to negotiate with others. The Steelers are not one of them."