New England Patriots
It is April Fools’ Day, but Robert Kraftwasn’t joking around when announcing the newest addition to the Patriots Hall of Fame — saying he personally asked Bill Parcellsto join the exclusive club, despite the well-documented beef between the two.
Kraft informed reporters of his decision while out at the annual league meeting in Florida on Tuesday … revealing the Big Tuna will formally go into the team’s HOF later this year.
“In the early 1990s, the Patriots were in disarray,” Kraft said in a statement after making the announcement. “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.”
“I look forward to welcoming Bill back to Foxborough and celebrating his induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame.”
While the 83-year-old Pats honcho gushed over his former sideline manager on Tuesday … it wasn’t always peaches and cream between the two.
Following New England’s loss to the Packers during the 1997 playoffs, Parcells bolted to New York to join the Jets, opting to not even fly home with the team.
The coach was looking for personnel control over the roster … which he never got. During the Apple TV show “The Dynasty: New England Patriots,” he said Kraft was giving roster construction roles to “incompetent” people.
“We finally got some success, but I felt like Kraft wasn’t always in line with the things that I knew to be in the best interest of building a team,” he said. “Kraft had no real background in football, and in his inexperience, took the draft away from me and he gave it to somebody else.”
Kraft, meanwhile, added, “With Coach Parcells, I didn’t feel he always put the team first. He was making decisions that were best for Bill Parcells, as opposed [to] for the New England Patriots.”
Seems time has repaired the ‘ship, though … making Parcells’ impending induction ceremony must-see TV.
