CANTON, Ohio — Bill Parcells unofficially spoke for everyone in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and all the people gathered to see him and six others inducted Saturday night.
“There’s a kinship created that lasts for the rest of your life,” he said about his experience as one of the NFL’s most successful coaches.
Parcells became the first coach in seven years to make the hall, with several of his proteges in the crowd at Fawcett Stadium. The only coach to take four franchises to the playoffs, Parcells won Super Bowls with the New York Giants in the 1986 and 1990 seasons. The master of the team turnaround with the Giants, Patriots, Jets and Cowboys, Parcells was called “the definitive winner” by former player George Martin, who presented him for induction.
Parcells’ career record was 183-138-1 and he won coach of the year honors in 1986 and 1994. He asked to have his bust placed somewhere near Lawrence Taylor in the hall “so I can keep an eye on that sucker.”
Parcells was joined by offensive linemen Jonathan Ogden and Larry Allen, linebacker Dave Robinson, receiver Cris Carter and defensive linemen Curley Culp and Warren Sapp in the induction ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the Hall of Fame.
Ogden became the first Baltimore Raven enshrined in the hall.
Ogden, who was given a 2013 Super Bowl ring by the team, made the hall in his first year of eligibility. He was a six-time all-pro, made the Pro Bowl 11 times and was the main blocker when Jamal Lewis rushed for 2,066 yards in 2003.
“I am so proud to be the Baltimore Ravens’ first Hall of Fame inductee,” Odgen said.
Allen, who sniffled his way through his speech, was just as dominating a blocker as Ogden. He also was, he said, the NFL’s strongest man, once bench-pressing 700 pounds, and saying “I did it naturally.”
Robinson became the 12th inductee from the vintage Packers coached by Vince Lombardi to be enshrined.
“This is the biggest day of the 21st century for the Robinson family,” he said, adding he “lives 25 miles from here but it took me 38 years to get here.” Not quite: Robinson served on the Hall of Fame’s board of directors for 27 years. Now, he has a bust in the museum.
“There wasn’t even a Hall of Fame when I broke in to the NFL,” Robinson said. Indeed, Robinson’s rookie season was the year the hall was created, 1963.
“Now, I am immortalized,” Robinson said.
As is Culp, a second-round selection of the Broncos in the 1968 draft who became one of the game’s most dominant defensive tackles for much of his 14 pro seasons, including the 1969 season when he helped the Kansas City Chiefs win the NFL title.
“It gives me joy and inspiration that will last the rest of my life,” Culp said. “I am just overwhelmed by the struggles, joys and tears of those who made it here. I’m happy to join them in the Hall of Fame.”
