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Not much Dallas talk, aside from the Cutler blurb.
SERBY'S SUNDAY Q & A WITH...
BILL PARCELLS
By STEVE SERBY
September 9, 2007 -- The Post's Steve Serby chatted with the man who coached the Giants to two Super Bowls titles, led the Patriots, Jets and Cowboys to the playoffs in a 19-year career, and now serves as an analyst on ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown."
Q: Were you happy when you woke up the morning of the 1986 NFC Championship game and heard the wind howling?
A: Yes. My (Giants) team was very good in adverse elements. I wasn't sure Washington was. (Punt returner) Phil McConkey had a lot to do with field position in that game, catching 'em in the air, and their guy let them hit the ground. The differential in yardage was big.
Q: Super Bowl XXI?
A: I didn't acknowledge in my mind we were gonna win until maybe the last two minutes. I was worried about (John) Elway getting on a roll, thinking onsides kicks could happen ... one of those coaches' insecurity things. The celebration was going on around me on the sidelines. I didn't join in until the last minute of the game.
Q: The 1991 NFC Championship game in San Francisco: Giants 15, 49ers 13?
A: Probably one of the two greatest games I was involved in because so many great players were in it. Nobody believed we could win with a backup quarterback (Jeff Hostetler for injured Phil Simms). Our defense was very good, and Matt Bahr was such a clutch kicker. If I ever had one kick to make, Matt would be my guy.
Q: What were you thinking when Buffalo's Scott Norwood lined up for the 47-yarder at the end of Super Bowl XXV?
A: I didn't think he was gonna make it because he hadn't made any on grass that long. What I thought was gonna happen did happen: He overkicked the ball. I was thinking before the kick, "Ya know, it's gonna be a shame if we lose this game." We outplayed those guys pretty much the whole way. I think the best team won, but a lot of people wouldn't say that.
Q: Was the euphoria the same or different from the first championship?
A: Pretty much the same. (Buffalo) was The Offense of the '90s and it was modern-day football against the Neanderthal approach. That game is testament that there are ways to win any game if you just implement the proper strategy and get it executed.
Q: Best motivational job you did?
A: Before the San Francisco game in '91. I told my players early in the week, "We're goin' to San Francisco and we're gonna have one week for the Super Bowl so pack everything for two weeks." A lot of 'em have told me that really helped everybody's confidence.
Q: When did you realize you had this gift to push buttons?
A: I'm just myself. Everybody says it's all this contrived stuff ... you just react.
Q: Wayne Chrebet Day?
A: He was a spunky, little guy. I used to tease him about being a "Mascot" player. Joe Morris was kinda that. They get to be the fan favorite, they're the underdog. Dave Meggett was like that. I have a lot of respect for Wayne. He was very competitive when the ball was in the air, very good quickness, the ability to separate, a physical player for his size.
Q: Commissioner Roger Goodell's law-and-order crackdown?
A: You're preaching to the choir now. I'm happy to see he's taking a good stand on these things. Ninety-eight percent of these kids are really good, achievement-oriented, highly motivated, good kids that want to be productive citizens, that are willing to give back to the community. We don't ever read about those.
Q: Michael Vick?
A: You're just saddened by it. You don't like to see that kind of treatment to animals. They're God's creatures, why would you want to hurt them? It happened to such a marquee guy in the NFL that it affects people's opinion on a whole group of people and not just one or two. That's what I don't like about it.
Q: What made Curtis Martin Curtis Martin?
A: He's one of the very, very special players, and people, I've ever met. He's what pro football should be about.
Q: Did you envision Chad Pennington having this career when you drafted him in 2000?
A: A lot of things happened to this kid. A lot of people who weren't as mentally tough would have folded it up.
Q: If Peyton Manning had left Tennessee a year early when you had the No. 1 1998 overall pick, would you have drafted him?
A: Oh yeah.
Q: But you never relayed that to Team Manning.
A: You have to remember what the rules were in those days - you were prohibited from doing anything like that.
Q: They never had an inkling?
A: Of course they had an inkling.
Q: You might still be coaching the Jets if he had come out.
A: You never know. If he had come out, he might have gotten hurt and never played again.
Q: Which young coach today reminds you of the young Bill Parcells?
A: I wouldn't want to characterize anybody that way. They might not take it as a compliment.
Q: Your relationship with Bill Belichick?
A: I'd say very good. I don't know what he'd say. This summer we played golf together. I'm happy for his success. I have a vested interest there, too. My daughter (Dallas, married to Pats' GM Scott Pioli) is there. I want her family to do well.
Q: Brandon Jacobs?
A: Big, strong kid with toughness. But these runners are like quarterbacks. You gotta go two, three, four years before you find out what you got, because they're gonna get beat up and they're gonna have to get back to that huddle every week.
Q: The Eli Manning-Philip Rivers-Ben Roethlisberger draft?
A: I thought all had a good chance to be successful.
Q: Why has Eli struggled?
A: He got thrown in there early. So did Roethlisberger, but Roethlisberger had a better cast around him. Rivers sat and got to learn for a year or two. Eli's gonna be OK. The expectations were distorted. Unless he was an instant star, people would start to wonder. I don't think he's played that badly.
Q: The Vince Young-Matt Leinart-Jay Cutler draft?
A: Our (Cowboys) scouting staff preferred Cutler.
Q: Michael Strahan needs one sack to break the tie with LT and become the Giants' career sack leader.
A: Lawrence didn't get to count one of his years (1981 rookie season, 9½ sacks).
Q: Whom did you lean on for support during the dark days in 1983 when you lost your parents during your 3-12-1 first season as Giants coach?
A: I was saddened by my personal events and I was embarrassed (by the team's record). I said to myself, 'If I ever get another chance to do this (keep coaching), I'm doing it differently.' When I got the chance, I probably overdid that (being a taskmaster) a little bit. I was so determined to get the thing straightened out, it was maybe at some other peoples' expense, and it shouldn't have been. I was fighting every windmill. I was probably being adversarial in situations where I really didn't have to be.
Q: What was the moment you said to yourself, "I can do this!"
A: Anaheim, '84 (playoffs), at the Rams, and you can thank Terry Kinard for that 'cause he tackled Eric Dickerson and we ended up making a goal-line stand (and winning 16-13).
Q: Wellington Mara?
A: I left the Giants early in '91 and there was never a three-month period after that where I didn't have communication with him. A note, a call, a "good luck." We were still corresponding up to the time he died ... within a few days before he died. The Maras, Wellington and Tim, they're responsible for everything I have.
Q: George Young?
A: I was fortunate to have him. He was a conservative, even-keeled thinking guy. I got an appreciation for him that was greater after I was gone.
Q: Phil Simms?
A: Fierce, fierce competitor. One of several that had they not been there for me, you probably would never have heard of me.
Q: What did you do behind the scenes when Keyshawn Johnson's controversial book ("Just Give Me The Damn Ball") came out?
A: Nothing. I don't even know what's in the book to this day. This kid dug himself out of inner-city Los Angeles. He's a monumental success. For some reason, we hit it off. And I have fun with him now.
Q: Joe Gibbs?
A: Probably my fiercest rival.
Q: Best running back you coached against?
A: Earl Campbell. Dorsett would scare you to death. And most recently LaDainian. And Billy Sims was very good.
Q: Can you fill the void of your football addiction?
A: I don't think the game is ever gonna be totally out of me. I'm sure I'll always have some interest, but not to go back and coach or administrate. I want to have a different life than I used to. I don't have the energy to do it.
Q: Who presents you in Canton?
A: I hope I have the opportunity to divulge that. It would mean a lot to me.
Q: Which was more painful, coaching a game with kidney stones or watching Flipper Anderson catch that OT playoff TD pass in '89?
A: Flipper.
Q: Will we ever see another Lawrence Taylor?
A: Not in my lifetime. This guy changed the game.
Q: Mike Ditka's campaign for the league to help retired players?
A: We all want good things to happen to people that gave their blood. Nobody wants anybody to be cast aside.
Q: What do you think of Eric Mangini showing the Jets different fights before games?
A: I've done it myself (in Dallas). I gave them that Cyclone Hart-Vito Antuofermo fight. With the Jets, I showed a rodeo rider, Tuff Hedeman, who rode a bull called Bodacious. He got beat up real bad the first time, had to sit out six months. I showed footage of the first injury, then I had a highlight when he rode the bull again.
Q: Favorite fighters?
A: Ray Robinson; Duran; Carlos Monzon. I had very high regard for Holyfield, he took 'em all on. I liked Arturo Gatti. He was a wonderful, crowd-pleasing fighter.
Q: Your recollection of Mangini as one of your Jets assistants?
A: Bright young guy, worked hard, good teacher. He actually was coaching our safeties. There was no way of knowing how quickly he would ascend.
Q: Mike Tannenbaum?
A: Tremendous passion for his work. Another bright guy who has learned the ways of the league very quickly.
Q: Al Davis offered you perspective and wisdom.
A: When I'd get distracted by circumstances, he'd tell me, "Look, Bill, just go coach the team; that's what you're supposed to do."
Q: The Ernie Accorsi book claiming you lobbied a Giants official about the 2007 GM job the day of the Cowboys-Giants game?
A: Put a name to it. Whoever said that's not telling the truth.
Q: Your first coaching job at Hastings College?
A: We opened up with Colorado School of Mines and shut 'em out 24-0. I thought we were at the Rose Bowl.
Q: You're a longtime baseball fan. Where would you rate Alex Rodriguez?
A: Way, way up on top. In deference to some of the great players I've seen personally, like Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, he is a very great baseball player.
Q: GMs in other sports you admire?
A: Walt Jocketty (Cardinals). John Schuerholz (Braves).
Q: Professional coaches or managers in other sports you admire, aside from Tony La Russa and Lou Piniella.
A: Joe Torre; Pat Riley; Gregg Popovich.
Q: ESPN?
A: I'm happy to be back with Chris Berman and (Chris Mortensen) and Tom Jackson. I got Keyshawn to pick on. And vice versa.
Q: Favorite childhood sports memory?
A: The (New York) Giants winning the (1951) pennant (on Bobby Thomson's HR off Ralph Branca).
Q: If you weren't a football coach, what would you have been?
A: Probably a lawyer.
Q: Will you miss not being on the sidelines tonight?
A: I don't think so. I'm happy I'm not doing it now.
SERBY'S SUNDAY Q & A WITH...
BILL PARCELLS
By STEVE SERBY
September 9, 2007 -- The Post's Steve Serby chatted with the man who coached the Giants to two Super Bowls titles, led the Patriots, Jets and Cowboys to the playoffs in a 19-year career, and now serves as an analyst on ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown."
Q: Were you happy when you woke up the morning of the 1986 NFC Championship game and heard the wind howling?
A: Yes. My (Giants) team was very good in adverse elements. I wasn't sure Washington was. (Punt returner) Phil McConkey had a lot to do with field position in that game, catching 'em in the air, and their guy let them hit the ground. The differential in yardage was big.
Q: Super Bowl XXI?
A: I didn't acknowledge in my mind we were gonna win until maybe the last two minutes. I was worried about (John) Elway getting on a roll, thinking onsides kicks could happen ... one of those coaches' insecurity things. The celebration was going on around me on the sidelines. I didn't join in until the last minute of the game.
Q: The 1991 NFC Championship game in San Francisco: Giants 15, 49ers 13?
A: Probably one of the two greatest games I was involved in because so many great players were in it. Nobody believed we could win with a backup quarterback (Jeff Hostetler for injured Phil Simms). Our defense was very good, and Matt Bahr was such a clutch kicker. If I ever had one kick to make, Matt would be my guy.
Q: What were you thinking when Buffalo's Scott Norwood lined up for the 47-yarder at the end of Super Bowl XXV?
A: I didn't think he was gonna make it because he hadn't made any on grass that long. What I thought was gonna happen did happen: He overkicked the ball. I was thinking before the kick, "Ya know, it's gonna be a shame if we lose this game." We outplayed those guys pretty much the whole way. I think the best team won, but a lot of people wouldn't say that.
Q: Was the euphoria the same or different from the first championship?
A: Pretty much the same. (Buffalo) was The Offense of the '90s and it was modern-day football against the Neanderthal approach. That game is testament that there are ways to win any game if you just implement the proper strategy and get it executed.
Q: Best motivational job you did?
A: Before the San Francisco game in '91. I told my players early in the week, "We're goin' to San Francisco and we're gonna have one week for the Super Bowl so pack everything for two weeks." A lot of 'em have told me that really helped everybody's confidence.
Q: When did you realize you had this gift to push buttons?
A: I'm just myself. Everybody says it's all this contrived stuff ... you just react.
Q: Wayne Chrebet Day?
A: He was a spunky, little guy. I used to tease him about being a "Mascot" player. Joe Morris was kinda that. They get to be the fan favorite, they're the underdog. Dave Meggett was like that. I have a lot of respect for Wayne. He was very competitive when the ball was in the air, very good quickness, the ability to separate, a physical player for his size.
Q: Commissioner Roger Goodell's law-and-order crackdown?
A: You're preaching to the choir now. I'm happy to see he's taking a good stand on these things. Ninety-eight percent of these kids are really good, achievement-oriented, highly motivated, good kids that want to be productive citizens, that are willing to give back to the community. We don't ever read about those.
Q: Michael Vick?
A: You're just saddened by it. You don't like to see that kind of treatment to animals. They're God's creatures, why would you want to hurt them? It happened to such a marquee guy in the NFL that it affects people's opinion on a whole group of people and not just one or two. That's what I don't like about it.
Q: What made Curtis Martin Curtis Martin?
A: He's one of the very, very special players, and people, I've ever met. He's what pro football should be about.
Q: Did you envision Chad Pennington having this career when you drafted him in 2000?
A: A lot of things happened to this kid. A lot of people who weren't as mentally tough would have folded it up.
Q: If Peyton Manning had left Tennessee a year early when you had the No. 1 1998 overall pick, would you have drafted him?
A: Oh yeah.
Q: But you never relayed that to Team Manning.
A: You have to remember what the rules were in those days - you were prohibited from doing anything like that.
Q: They never had an inkling?
A: Of course they had an inkling.
Q: You might still be coaching the Jets if he had come out.
A: You never know. If he had come out, he might have gotten hurt and never played again.
Q: Which young coach today reminds you of the young Bill Parcells?
A: I wouldn't want to characterize anybody that way. They might not take it as a compliment.
Q: Your relationship with Bill Belichick?
A: I'd say very good. I don't know what he'd say. This summer we played golf together. I'm happy for his success. I have a vested interest there, too. My daughter (Dallas, married to Pats' GM Scott Pioli) is there. I want her family to do well.
Q: Brandon Jacobs?
A: Big, strong kid with toughness. But these runners are like quarterbacks. You gotta go two, three, four years before you find out what you got, because they're gonna get beat up and they're gonna have to get back to that huddle every week.
Q: The Eli Manning-Philip Rivers-Ben Roethlisberger draft?
A: I thought all had a good chance to be successful.
Q: Why has Eli struggled?
A: He got thrown in there early. So did Roethlisberger, but Roethlisberger had a better cast around him. Rivers sat and got to learn for a year or two. Eli's gonna be OK. The expectations were distorted. Unless he was an instant star, people would start to wonder. I don't think he's played that badly.
Q: The Vince Young-Matt Leinart-Jay Cutler draft?
A: Our (Cowboys) scouting staff preferred Cutler.
Q: Michael Strahan needs one sack to break the tie with LT and become the Giants' career sack leader.
A: Lawrence didn't get to count one of his years (1981 rookie season, 9½ sacks).
Q: Whom did you lean on for support during the dark days in 1983 when you lost your parents during your 3-12-1 first season as Giants coach?
A: I was saddened by my personal events and I was embarrassed (by the team's record). I said to myself, 'If I ever get another chance to do this (keep coaching), I'm doing it differently.' When I got the chance, I probably overdid that (being a taskmaster) a little bit. I was so determined to get the thing straightened out, it was maybe at some other peoples' expense, and it shouldn't have been. I was fighting every windmill. I was probably being adversarial in situations where I really didn't have to be.
Q: What was the moment you said to yourself, "I can do this!"
A: Anaheim, '84 (playoffs), at the Rams, and you can thank Terry Kinard for that 'cause he tackled Eric Dickerson and we ended up making a goal-line stand (and winning 16-13).
Q: Wellington Mara?
A: I left the Giants early in '91 and there was never a three-month period after that where I didn't have communication with him. A note, a call, a "good luck." We were still corresponding up to the time he died ... within a few days before he died. The Maras, Wellington and Tim, they're responsible for everything I have.
Q: George Young?
A: I was fortunate to have him. He was a conservative, even-keeled thinking guy. I got an appreciation for him that was greater after I was gone.
Q: Phil Simms?
A: Fierce, fierce competitor. One of several that had they not been there for me, you probably would never have heard of me.
Q: What did you do behind the scenes when Keyshawn Johnson's controversial book ("Just Give Me The Damn Ball") came out?
A: Nothing. I don't even know what's in the book to this day. This kid dug himself out of inner-city Los Angeles. He's a monumental success. For some reason, we hit it off. And I have fun with him now.
Q: Joe Gibbs?
A: Probably my fiercest rival.
Q: Best running back you coached against?
A: Earl Campbell. Dorsett would scare you to death. And most recently LaDainian. And Billy Sims was very good.
Q: Can you fill the void of your football addiction?
A: I don't think the game is ever gonna be totally out of me. I'm sure I'll always have some interest, but not to go back and coach or administrate. I want to have a different life than I used to. I don't have the energy to do it.
Q: Who presents you in Canton?
A: I hope I have the opportunity to divulge that. It would mean a lot to me.
Q: Which was more painful, coaching a game with kidney stones or watching Flipper Anderson catch that OT playoff TD pass in '89?
A: Flipper.
Q: Will we ever see another Lawrence Taylor?
A: Not in my lifetime. This guy changed the game.
Q: Mike Ditka's campaign for the league to help retired players?
A: We all want good things to happen to people that gave their blood. Nobody wants anybody to be cast aside.
Q: What do you think of Eric Mangini showing the Jets different fights before games?
A: I've done it myself (in Dallas). I gave them that Cyclone Hart-Vito Antuofermo fight. With the Jets, I showed a rodeo rider, Tuff Hedeman, who rode a bull called Bodacious. He got beat up real bad the first time, had to sit out six months. I showed footage of the first injury, then I had a highlight when he rode the bull again.
Q: Favorite fighters?
A: Ray Robinson; Duran; Carlos Monzon. I had very high regard for Holyfield, he took 'em all on. I liked Arturo Gatti. He was a wonderful, crowd-pleasing fighter.
Q: Your recollection of Mangini as one of your Jets assistants?
A: Bright young guy, worked hard, good teacher. He actually was coaching our safeties. There was no way of knowing how quickly he would ascend.
Q: Mike Tannenbaum?
A: Tremendous passion for his work. Another bright guy who has learned the ways of the league very quickly.
Q: Al Davis offered you perspective and wisdom.
A: When I'd get distracted by circumstances, he'd tell me, "Look, Bill, just go coach the team; that's what you're supposed to do."
Q: The Ernie Accorsi book claiming you lobbied a Giants official about the 2007 GM job the day of the Cowboys-Giants game?
A: Put a name to it. Whoever said that's not telling the truth.
Q: Your first coaching job at Hastings College?
A: We opened up with Colorado School of Mines and shut 'em out 24-0. I thought we were at the Rose Bowl.
Q: You're a longtime baseball fan. Where would you rate Alex Rodriguez?
A: Way, way up on top. In deference to some of the great players I've seen personally, like Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, he is a very great baseball player.
Q: GMs in other sports you admire?
A: Walt Jocketty (Cardinals). John Schuerholz (Braves).
Q: Professional coaches or managers in other sports you admire, aside from Tony La Russa and Lou Piniella.
A: Joe Torre; Pat Riley; Gregg Popovich.
Q: ESPN?
A: I'm happy to be back with Chris Berman and (Chris Mortensen) and Tom Jackson. I got Keyshawn to pick on. And vice versa.
Q: Favorite childhood sports memory?
A: The (New York) Giants winning the (1951) pennant (on Bobby Thomson's HR off Ralph Branca).
Q: If you weren't a football coach, what would you have been?
A: Probably a lawyer.
Q: Will you miss not being on the sidelines tonight?
A: I don't think so. I'm happy I'm not doing it now.