Parker 'surprised' sharing spot as Steelers open minicamp

And not just because of the broken leg, which he said is fully healed.

Mendenhall, who was presented with a Steelers No. 1 jersey during a photo opportunity Friday but will wear No. 34, said Parker welcomed him immediately. It is somewhat like the situation in 2004, when established star Jerome Bettis helped then-rookie Parker get through his first season.

"Just how to be a professional," Mendenhall said when asked what Parker has shown him so far. "He's been here for a few years. How to work, what to do, how to carry yourself as a professional and as a man."

Not that the 20-year-old Mendenhall ever felt like he wouldn't fit in, despite falling to the Steelers after being projected in many of the countless mock drafts to go in the middle of the first round.

"I have a lot of confidence in myself," Mendenhall said. "I'm supposed to come in here and produce. That is what I am planning on doing."

Or what he couldn't do at Illinois, at least not early in his career. He went there to play alongside brother and fellow running back Walter Mendenhall, yet was a part-time player until he became the Big Ten offensive player of the year last season.

Mendenhall is disappointed that, since he left school, his older brother was effectively told he wasn't wanted back at Illinois and will transfer to Illinois State as a fifth-year senior.

"Yeah, it upset me but, to tell you the truth, the way things were there, it didn't surprise me too much," Rashard Mendenhall said. "They were just never in our favor there."