Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former head coach Bill Parcells have seemingly made amends decades after the coach’s exit to the AFC East rival Jets in 1997.
On Tuesday, Kraft announced at the NFL owners meetings that Parcells will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame as a contributor this year and explained the timing was right for him to be honored with a red jacket in Foxborough.
Parcells was the head coach of the Patriots for four seasons (1993-96) and led them to two playoff berths and a Super Bowl appearance — after inheriting a team that had finished 14-50 in the previous four years.
Parcells had been a finalist five times for the honor in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2020 and 2023.
“He had been a finalist for five years, and while both of us are alive … I thought it would be great given what he’s done for the team,” Kraft, who turns 84 in June, told The Boston Globe.
Parcells, who was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012, will turn 84 in August.
It was widely believed that Parcells was snubbed for the team’s Hall of Fame after his falling out with Kraft in the mid-90s.
At the time, Parcells wanted personnel control and Kraft wouldn’t budge — and Kraft wasn’t thrilled that rumors of Parcells leaving for the Jets overshadowed the Patriots’ Super Bowl against the Packers in 1997.
Green Bay beat New England, 35-21, and Parcells took his talents to the Jets.
“I personally feel that those days are over,” Parcells told The Boston Globe via phone. “Life’s too short for that kind of stuff. We haven’t interacted much, but I think we both pretty much feel the same way.”
Kraft initially wanted to surprise Parcells by delivering the news in person during a visit to Jupiter, Fla., where Parcells is a resident in the winter.
However, Kraft wound up calling the two-time Super Bowl champ as Parcells was in the process of driving to his summer home in Saratoga.
“I’m very honored. I am,” Parcells said of Kraft’s call. “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 Patriots in 1994, credited Parcells for bringing “instant credibility” to the team in a separate statement on Monday.
“In the early 1990s, the Patriots were in disarray, 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,” Kraft said in a statement. “He was a master motivator and always got the most out of his players.
“In my first season as owner, he led us on that unforgettable seven-game win streak to qualify for the playoffs. Two years later, he accomplished something Patriots fans had never seen before, leading us to our first two home playoff wins in franchise history, and another trip to the Super Bowl. Those are memories I will never forget and achievements worthy of this honor.
“As a five-time finalist for our hall of fame, I am sure he would have been voted in eventually, but I wanted to expedite the process so he can enjoy the ceremony. I look forward to welcoming Bill back to Foxborough and celebrating his induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame.”
The date for the ceremony has yet to be announced.
Julian Edelman, Adam Vinatieri and Logan Mankins are all candidates to be honored.
Parcells went 32-32 in four seasons with the Patriots and 2-2 in the playoffs.
He is the only coach in NFL history to lead four different teams to the playoffs and three different teams to the conference championship game.
Parcells also served as the head coach of the Giants and the Cowboys.
He was inducted into the Giants’ Ring of Honor in 2010 after winning two Super Bowls with the team.
