CANTON, Ohio -- When former running back Curtis Martin stood up at Friday's noon luncheon for the new inductees, he spoke of his first year as a Hall of Fame member, what it was like, the experiences he had and the people he met. But before he finished, he said he had someone important to acknowledge.
It was the guy sitting next to him. Bill Parcells.
"I want to take the opportunity to thank this man," Martin said. "Because I'm not here talking to you guys if it's not for him. Parcells not only helped my career being what it was, but he helped save my life in some respect.
"I grew up in a really hard area and had some hard experiences. But because Parcells was that coach that I took to, he impacted me and was able to influence me properly. Football got the best out of me, and I don't know if that would've happened (if I had another coach)."
Martin is not alone in his appreciation of Parcells. Coaches Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin and Sean Payton -- all former assistants under Parcells -- are expected to attend Saturday for Parcells' induction, a rarity in the middle of training camp. But that speaks to the considerable influence Parcells wielded over his players, coaches and the entire league.
When Hall of Fame selectors consider candidates, they often ask if the history of the game can be written without them. The presence of Coughlin, Belichick and Payton ... as well as the words of Martin ... answers that question.
"I had a pretty good crew," Parcells said of his three former assistants. "That's what we say in Jersey. I really did. I certainly ... retrospectively ... appreciate it now much more than when we were going through it. I do take a lot of pride in their accomplishments. I really do.
"I've got a lot invested in these guys. Bill, especially, with all those years together. We live in the same place in the winter. I see him a lot. I knew his dad, and I was friends with his dad.
"Tom and I are basically ... in my opinion, from a professional standpoint ... the same guy. And Sean, of course, is someone I'm very, very fond of. Sean gets it. Like all of us when we were young, he didn't always get it. But he gets it now.
"He knows what's important. He's an absolutely terrific listener, and he's very bright and creative. I have a high regard for him ... a very, very high regard for him."
But that regard is returned to Parcells not just by people like Martin, Belichick, Coughlin and Payton; it is returned from all corners of the league. When I spoke Friday with former Washington coach Joe Gibbs about Parcells, he talked about Parcells' competitive nature and preparation, and how impressed he was with how his teams responded. Parcells was a combined 4-1 in the playoffs vs. Gibbs, Bill Walsh and Marv Levy, all Hall-of-Fame members.
"Sometimes we'd have the best game plans," said Gibbs, "and I'd walk off the field going, 'How'd we lose that game?' He made you earn everything.
"Having to go against him in the division where he played you twice, he did a great job of analyzing you. We did a lot of formation stuff, and you could tell the way he coached we didn't get much of an advantage against him. I've just got great respect for him. He's a very, very good football man, period."
Parcells acknowledged it wasn't always that way; that he was fortunate not to be fired after his first season when the Giants were 3-12-1. He said he thought he could've been a loss away from getting canned his second season, too, before finishing 9-7 and qualifying for the playoffs.
But then New York beat the Rams, and there, Parcells said, his career as a successful coach was made.
"I can remember I had my arm around Rob Carpenter," he said, "and we were walking off together, and my guys were coming by hitting me -- because we had lost to the Rams, 33-10, on the same field earlier in the season. It was euphoria at its highest.
"And I remember thinking to myself; You know, Parcells, if you just get your ass in gear you might be able to do this.' That game was the game where I said, 'You know what? You can do this if you get at it.' It kind of served as an impetus."
Then this weekend serves as its reward. It's not just that the NFL celebrates Bill Parcells, or that fans of the Giants, Jets, Patriots, Cowboys or Dolphins are here for him; it's that the people he cares for most are ... and you can start with those three coaches who are about to leave their teams to be here.
"I think they should," said Martin. "I think all of them probably would say not necessarily that they owe their careers to them, but would say, as I say as a player, that they wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for the guy.
"The impact that Bill Parcells has had on many of our lives -- and not just the players, but the league -- defines what it means to be an NFL coach. He's one of the pillars of the NFL."
