NFL Hall of Fame 2013: Bill Parcells’ Speech (Video)
By Mike Dyce
Bill Parcells was a very good head football coach and has a huge coaching tree and has left a lasting impact on the NFL. He addressed former assistants and now Super Bowl winning head coaches Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots and Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants.
“I just want to say I take pride in their individual accomplishments, and I’m looking for a couple more championships out of some of them, so let’s go,” Parcells said.
Parcells realized every player was different and had to be treated differently.
“The only thing I would ask them to do is when they put my bust in the Hall tomorrow, I’d like to be somewhere near Lawrence Taylor, so I can keep an eye on that sucker.”
Parcells opened a window into NFL locker rooms.
“We’ve got happiness, we’ve got humor, practical jokes, hilarity, success, achievement. Then we’ve got that momentary time of exhilaration where you hoist that championship trophy over your head, and I don’t know what happens, but some mystical blood kinship is formed, and although it’s a fleeting moment, that kinship lasts for the rest of your life. …
“I wish all of American society could have experienced what I experienced in this place, because, ladies and gentlemen, it is a priceless, priceless education.”
Parcells remembers his defining moment:
“After the 1984 playoff game against the (Los Angeles) Rams, I felt that, if we didn’t screw it up, we could get things underway like I hoped. … But I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about those kind of things. Most of the time when I think about football, I think about the people I was involved with and the experiences I had with those people.
“That’s what this is game is about. It’s about camaraderie. There would be nothing without that. To see some of my boys, and they are in the Hall of Fame. To see them, and I’m their guy. And their my guys. It’s special.”
Quotes from NFL.com