INDIANAPOLIS - Bill Parcells is one of 17 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and, by Saturday at 5:30, we'll know if the man who brought a winning culture to New England will be headed to Canton in August 2012. It's fitting that Parcells is up for the vote among the 44-member panel on a weekend where two teams he intimately impacted prepare to play in Super Bowl XLVI. Another interesting side note is that ex-Jet Curtis Martin - the NFL's fourth-leading career rusher and the man Parcells finagled from the Patriots in 1998 - is also up for the vote.
On Friday, Bill Belichick ably mapped out the reasons he believes Parcells should be HOF bound. "Absolutely," Belichick began when asked about Parcells being deserving."Bill has done a tremendous job in his time in the National Football League, really taking five organizations from not a very high point to a very high point. "I was with him in three of those organizations and saw from a different perspective what he did in Dallas and Miami and those areas. Bill is a tremendous coach, a great influence in my career and on me personally. I think hes had tremendous accomplishments in the game, not only his record but also his development of players and coaches and just the impact to the National Football League," Belichick continued. Despite the messiness of Belichick turning down the Jets head coaching job that Parcells bequeathed to him in 2000, the two men have long since overcome the hard feelings that caused. "In my time as a coach in the National Football League ... I would say of the coaches that Ive been with over this time, either with or competing against, I would certainly put him right up there at the top," said Belichick. "I learned an awful lot from him and think hes done a tremendous job and had a tremendous career. I cant imagine him being left out of the group."Parcells is being presented by Newsday's Bob Glauber who is in his first year as a Hall of Fame voter. A spirited debate is expected and there have been murmurs that Parcells' prickliness with the media at times could be a root cause of that. It would be a shame if a deserving coach and team architect is kept out because of old grudges.