Hot Tuna

The Patriots have named their three finalists for induction into the team's Hall of Fame. You can go to their website to vote. I already cast mine.

The choices are:
1. Houston Antwine, defensive tackle, 1961-71.
2. Drew Bledsoe. quarterback, 1993-2001.
3. Bill Parcells, coach, 1993-96.

All very deserving candidates. All great Patriots. And each one will eventually be honored at the Hall. But one of the three clearly deserves to go in right now. The one who got my vote.

The Tuna.

PARCELLS: I will follow.

Bill Parcells was the franchise changer. If it wasn't for him the New England Patriots would probably be the St. Louis Brews right now. Sure, James Busch Orthwein -- he of the Budweiser empire -- is the one who hired Parcells and the one who didn't move the team to St. Louis as everyone feared he would. Robert Kraft is the one who brought stability to the franchise and built a mega-mall. Tom Brady is the one who lead the team to three titles and married Gisele. Bill Belichick is ... well, Bill Belichick. But none of them would have been able to make their contributions to our current football nirvana if it weren't for Parcells.

I know. His tenure here ended about as badly as possible. His was the ultimate betrayal, making a backroom deal to leave and coach the hated Jets while he was supposed to be getting his team ready to play in Super Bowl XXXI against Brett Favre (him again) and the Packers. The Pats battled hard but came up short, losing 35-21. A few weeks later Parcells was "shopping for the groceries" on the Jersey Turnpike. It was ugly. If you watch the video above he talks about his time with the Pats and says the way it all ended here is the biggest regret of his career.

But that was the ending. Everything up to that point built the foundation for a championship franchise. Brick by brick. Player by player. When Parcells exited Foxborough he may have left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth, but he also left an organization that had finally figured out how to succeed. His time in charge of the Patriots energized fans and players alike. And led to the Pats becoming the next Super Bowl dynasty.

When he arrived in 1993, the thought of that happening was laughable. As was the team. The Pats had won a total of 13 games in the four season prior to Parcells coming out of retirement ("This will be my last coaching job." Ha! Good one Tuna). They were a bumbling, stumbling mess. Parcells, one day at a time, one player at a time, changed the culture and the attitude. Oh, what attitude. Parcells is a big-mouth Jersey guy. Born to say whatever is on his mind. Born to coach football. The type of leader that players (and fans) want to follow into battle. That was the reason me, Mark, Shep, and gang were thrilled when the Big Tuna Show came to town. We didn't know if he could fix the franchise, but we knew it would sure be fun watching while he tried.

And fun it was. Before there was the Snow Bowl and the three Super Bowl titles and all the great Belichick-Brady wins, there were great games like the Fog Bowl, followed by the first AFC championship game on home turf. Games quarterbacked and won by Drew Bledsoe, but games that never would happened without Parcells leading the way.

For that he should take his place in the Hall at Patriot Place this fall.  His induction speech should be as entertaining as his four years as coach.

Here's a great NFL video on one of the greatest coaches of all-time.