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EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
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Vote for the Giants Hall hopeful Parcells carries allegiance to former team
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Yes, Bill Parcells hopes to be voted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday. No, he has no plans to return to the NFL. And absolutely, he is rooting for the New York Giants in Sunday's Super Bowl. In his first public appearance since resigning as the New York Jets' director of football operations three weeks ago, Parcells also denied he spoke with the Cleveland Browns about their head-coaching position. After presenting Denver quarterback Brian Griese with the NFL.com All-Heart Award, for which Parcells is a spokesman on behalf of cholesterol screening tests, he was surrounded by media members eager to hear his future plans. "It is not my intention, I said it a year ago and that's where we are," he said of returning to the NFL as a head coach or team executive. "Nothing has changed for me. I'm just going over to Jupiter and playing golf. "I like football, it's been my life and I am not ashamed of saying that or apologizing for that. Don't make it that I'm saying 'Never, never, never.' But it's not my intention and I can only tell you what is in my heart. I don't have a crystal ball." If he did, he'd already know whether the Hall of Fame committee will select him for the football shrine in his first year of eligibility.
"I can't control the Hall voters, so whatever happens happens," he said. "I don't care where it is, or when, but I'd be honored." If he gets in now, how would the head coach of two Super Bowl champions with the Giants react? "It's hard to describe," he said. "All I can tell you is what I witnessed last year at a reunion of all the living NFL Hall of Famers. I was sitting with guys like Deacon Jones and Paul Hornung ... these are a special group of people. When they are with each other, I don't see any egos. It's all pretty humble with those guys." He had no trouble describing his rooting interest for Sunday's Baltimore Ravens-New York Giants matchup. "I'll have my red, white and blue on," he said. "That's where my heart is." His heart certainly no longer was with the green of the Jets, whom he coached for three seasons, then spent one year in charge of football operations while Al Groh coached. Now Groh is at Virginia, Parcells is playing golf in Florida, and the Jets' have a new management team. "The Jets are better off from a fan standpoint and an organizational standpoint now than when I took over," he said. "I don't know much about [new head coach] Herman Edwards except as an opponent when he played for the Eagles. I do have some knowledge of [new general manager] Terry Bradway. "I think Terry is a young, energetic guy. Herman is a young, energetic coach. I think they are taking over a team that is not the best in the league, but certainly not the worst."
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