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Mike Reiss
PALM BEACH, Fla. — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced Tuesday that he is inducting former coach Bill Parcells into the team’s hall of fame as a contributor, officially burying the hatchet from Parcells’ acrimonious departure to the rival New York Jets in 1997.
Kraft told reporters at the NFL annual meeting that he was motivated to do so in part because of timing. Kraft turns 84 in June, and Parcells, who has been a five-time finalist for the honor, turns 84 in August.
“While both of us are alive … I thought it would be great given what he’s done for the team,” he said of Parcells’ tenure from 1993 to 1996. “I am sure he would have been voted in eventually, but I wanted to expedite the process so he can enjoy the ceremony.”
“I’m very honored. I am,” Parcells told the Boston Globe. “I don’t take any of this stuff for granted. I’ve been fortunate with the Giants and the national Hall of Fame and then this one. That’s three of them. That’s a pretty humbling thing.”
Kraft, who bought the team in 1994 and ensured it would remain in New England instead of relocating to St. Louis, had a well-documented falling-out with Parcells at the end of his tenure as head coach that culminated in a 35-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI. Parcells had lamented, among other things, that he didn’t have full control of personnel.
To a segment of the team’s fan base, Parcells’ departure to the AFC East rival Jets — which had been rumored and was a distraction leading up to the Super Bowl loss — was a betrayal and later made his candidacy to the team’s hall of fame polarizing.
Kraft acknowledged that Tuesday when he began to make the Parcells announcement and said, “[Some] people will probably get mad at me for what I’m about to do.”
But to another segment of the team’s fanbase, the credibility Parcells brought to the franchise — along with quarterback Drew Bledsoe, the No. 1 pick in the 1993 draft — breathed life into the Patriots and helped set the stage for a dynastic run of success in the 2000s under Parcells’ former assistant, Bill Belichick.
Those who viewed Parcells’ candidacy through that prism surely welcomed Kraft’s announcement as good news coming off back-to-back 4-13 seasons that Kraft said Tuesday “have been really, really difficult; the worst two years of our ownership.”
Not quite as bad as the years before Parcells’ arrival, but close.
“In the early 1990s, the Patriots were in disarray,” Kraft said of teams that were 9-39 from 1990 to 1992. “But the hiring of Bill Parcells in 1993, a two-time Super Bowl champion, brought instant credibility to the franchise. We had never had a head coach with his credentials. He was a master motivator and always got the most out of his players.”
Parcells was 34-34 as Patriots coach, which included two playoff berths (1994, 1996) and the one Super Bowl appearance.
On Tuesday, Kraft referenced the team’s “unforgettable” seven-game winning streak to close out the 1994 season — his first as owner — that clinched a wild-card playoff berth. Kraft, who had been a season-ticket holder for decades before purchasing the team, also noted the Patriots’ two home playoff wins in the 1996 season, which were the first in franchise history.
“Those are memories I will never forget and achievements worthy of this honor,” he said.
Parcells, who won two Super Bowls as head coach of the New York Giants (1983-1990) and also served as head coach for the Patriots (1993-1996), Jets (1997-1999) and Dallas Cowboys (2003-2006), was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
As for the Patriots Hall of Fame, candidates are narrowed to three finalists by a committee that includes media members and former players, coaches and executives. Of the three finalists, one inductee is chosen by a fan vote.
Parcells was a finalist in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2020 and 2023.
In 2011, he acknowledged “a couple domestic misunderstandings with ownership I do regret.”
“Those things since have been resolved,” Parcells said at the time. “I think retrospectively, I would have handled things substantially different than I did. I was always saddened by the fact I had to leave there. In all honesty, I really didn’t want to. I’m sure Bob [Kraft] would say something along those lines. We have talked about that. … I did regret that. That’s life — you learn from things as you go on.”
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