CANTON — Bill Parcells smiled a smile that could have stretched all the way back to Oradell, N.J., as George Martin, his presenter, helped him uncover his Hall of Fame bust. Parcells patted his bust on the back of the head.
“When they put my bust in the Hall tomorrow,” Parcells joked, “I’d like to be somewhere near Lawrence Taylor so I can keep an eye on that sucker.”
It was a humbled and honored Parcells who spoke with 122 previous Hall of Famers in the house. Parcells reiterated that he probably wouldn’t be where he was Saturday night without the assistance of Martin, his friend and captain. He expressed his gratitude to his assistant coaches — the Bill Belichicks, the Tom Coughlins, the Sean Paytons. Belichick was smiling. He paid tribute to his secretaries for their underastanding on Blue Mondays.
He talked about his parents, and his brothers, one of whom, Doug, was in attendance. His other brother Don is deceased. “I know he’s lookng down,” Parcells said.
He talked of how proud he is of his three daughters who have geown into young women.
“I love you girls,” he said.
He paid tribute to his ex-wife Judy, noting that he was married to football.
“I commend her for a job well done, and I thank her very much for it,” Parcells said.
His 92-year-old basketball coach at River Dell High School, Mickey Corcoran, wore his Jersey smile in the stands.
“He was everything that a 14-year-old needed as a coach,” Parcells said.
He thanked his coach at Hastings College, Dean Prior, his very first stop, and Ray Perkins, his predecessor with the Giants.
Parcells, for reasons known only to Parcells, made no mention of his Giants GM, the late George Young.
Only days after the disgraceful Riley Cooper firestorm, he talked about the diversity of the NFL, and said: “I played and coached with ’em all. And the only thing that made any difference was, ‘Are you willing to help? If you are, come on in. If you’re not, get the hell out of here.'”
He talked of how his Giants have remained a team all these years later after those Super Bowl championships.
“Some mystical blood kinship is formed, and although it’s a fleeting moment, that kinship lasts the rest of your life,” Parcells said..
He talked of the pain and anguish of his men that he saw that the public never sees.
He shared an anecdote about Wellington Mara, who showed him a plaque of Emlen Tunnell, the first African American inducted to the Hall of Fame, on the wall of Giants Stadium.
Parcells remembered exactly what it read: “Losers assemble in little groups and complain about the coaches and players in other little groups. But winners assemble as a team. And tonight ladies and gentlemen, I get to do that. I’m honored and I’m grateful and I’m thankful to every single one of you out there who had something to do with this.”
Everyone stood and applauded.
“I think all Giant players, Giant fans, and the other ballclubs he coached, are very, very proud of this moment,” Harry Carson had said before it all began.