TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -During his 15 hours inside a Palm Beach County jail cell in April, Florida State receiver Preston Parker kept hearing 7-year-old Trey Fisher’s voice over and over in his head.
The son of Seminoles offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher is one of Parker’s biggest fans, and Parker knew he had let Trey and many others down shortly after his breakout 2007 season when he was arrested on gun and drug charges.
Making his first public comments Thursday since his arrest, Parker insisted he learned a valuable lesson and is intent on repairing his image.
“You realize what you could have lost,” said Parker, who caught 62 passes for 791 yards and had 270 yards rushing last season. “I could have lost my whole future. I’m back here trying to do everything I can do to get back on the field, be a leader and be a role model for the little kids.”
Parker pleaded guilty in May to a reduced misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon and has performed 65 hours of community service as part of the plea, according to court records. Parker grew up in a crime-infested area of Delray Beach – he said he saw many people he knew during his incarceration – and that he has made changes to his lifestyle.
“Since then, I just think about everything,” Parker said Thursday. “Even driving to the store, I think about, ‘Should I put my seat belt on, should I not?’ I had to separate myself from a lot of my friends or people I grew up with. They know what I’ve got to do.”
Jimbo Fisher, one of Parker’s biggest supporters throughout the ordeal, is confident the junior receiver and running back has learned his lesson.
“His heart is genuine,” Fisher said. “We wouldn’t have stood up for him the way we did if his heart wasn’t genuine.”
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