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NEW ORLEANS — If Bill Parcells doesn’t get in this time, if one great Giants champion coach doesn’t get in and bring another Giants champion named Michael Strahan along with him, then the NFL shouldn’t have a Hall of Fame.
There is no debate on Parcells belonging in Canton, not among those who played for him and coached with him and against him, only among a small voting block of pro football writers who waited far too long to let Harry Carson in the club and apparently begrudged his legendary franchise hopping.
It was a travesty that Parcells was denied a year ago, and the injustice must be righted tomorrow night by the 46 writers who owe it to the game to get it right.
Marv Levy never won a Super Bowl and he’s a Hall of Famer.
Bill Parcells won two, nearly won four.
It is Tuna Time.
You are what your record says you are, and the record says that Parcells is a Hall of Famer.
Hall of Famer Troy Aikman played against Parcells.
VOTE: WHO SHOULD BE ELECTED INTO THE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME?
“I think he’s left every organization better than it was before he got there,” Aikman said. “I’m a huge fan. I’ve never really gotten behind anybody as far as getting into the Hall of Fame or talking about whether they’re worthy, because I think it takes away from really what the Hall of Fame represents. I don’t think anybody should expect to be in the Hall of Fame, I think if it happens, then it’s a great honor.
“But having said that, I don’t think you can tell the story of professional football without Bill Parcells having a pretty prominent role in that, and to me, that’s how you define someone’s who’s worthy of being in the Hall of Fame.”
Parcells recruited Kevin Mawae to the Jets.
“If there’s 85 guys on a team, he knew how to push all 85 buttons,” Mawae said. “I remember for Bryan Cox. He was always teasing him about not having enough gas in the tank, and Bryan and him would go back and forth. We’ll come in the locker room the next morning, there’s an empty gas can in front of Bryan Cox’s locker. For Wayne Chrebet, it was like, ‘Are you tough enough?’ and he sits there and kicks Wayne Chrebet in the ankle to make sure his ankle’s tough after he had a high ankle sprain. For me, it was calling me out in the middle of the team meeting room, you don’t block Zach Thomas on Monday night against the Dolphins, we’re not gonna win the ballgame.”
Kurt Warner played against Parcells.
“He’s one of those guys that I believe transcended a couple of eras, led some great teams, obviously won championships — he’s just one of those guys that I think when you think about the coaching ranks in the NFL from that era, that’s one of those first names you think of because of all he accomplished and what he did with so many different players and different teams. I know it’s a long list and I know there’s a lot of guys that are deserving on that list, but I definitely think Bill is one of ’em.”
Dick Vermeil coached against Parcells.
“First of all, he was a great leader,” Vermeil said. “He won every place he went, OK? He didn’t win 100 percent of his games, nobody has. But nobody did it any better. When I came back into coaching, I leaned on Bill Parcells. I’d call him, talk to him … ‘How we doing this in the modern time?’ I’d been out of it 14 years. ‘Can I go to my old practice schedules, can I coach like I did in my old training camps?’ I bugged him. And he helped me a lot. I have great admiration and respect for him.”
Parcells drafted linebacker Ted Johnson with the Patriots.
“He’s kinda like a horse whisperer — he kinda takes over programs that are down and out, and he just revives ’em and gives ’em life again,” Johnson said.
And then Parcells bolted to the Jets.
“That crushed me,” Johnson said. “It was heartbreaking for me — and anybody that’ll tell ya, that played against him when he went to the Jets — if it was me, Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, [Tedy] Bruschi — you didn’t want to disappoint him. You never wanted to let Coach Parcells down. That was a tough thing for us to kinda come to grips with because, let’s face it, the guy was a legend and we knew we were playing for a legend.”
Warner played against Strahan.
“To me, Strahan’s a lock,” Warner said. “And I think there’s always a difference between a first-ballot Hall of Famer and other Hall of Famers, and in my opinion, Michael Strahan’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’s just a guy who could take over games.
“We played against him when he had a broken hand one year, and we couldn’t block him to save our lives.”
Tiki Barber played with Strahan.
“He should be first-ballot,” Barber said. “He was a complete player as a defensive end, which is rare for a guy who put up so many sacks.”
Champion Giants. Hall of Famers both.
steve.serby@nypost.com