Friday, February 2, 2018

How Bill Parcells and I Helped the Saints Win the Super Bowl

Saints coach Sean Payton, talking on Radio Row Friday morning, mentioned that he still speaks to Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells regularly. Which got me to reminiscing about the famous meeting these two coaches had prior to Super Bowl XLIV – right after I thought Parcells had busted me.

Here’s how it went down…

It’s Monday of Super Bowl week in 2010, and the Saints are getting ready to play the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV in South Florida. As senior editor of NFL.com, I was getting ready to moderate a live online chat with Parcells, then president of the Miami Dolphins. Before leaving the media center to meet Parcells at the Dolphins’ facility, one of our NFL.com writers was telling me that he was having a hard time reaching Parcells. Since Payton was a longtime assistant Parcells, the writer wanted Tuna’s take on how the Saints coach might approach the big game.

No problem, I told my writer. The chat was going to be me asking Parcells questions submitted by fans. I’ll just slip in your question, couched as a fan’s query, and you can use the answer in your story. Easy.

It was a rainy Monday when we arrived at the Dolphins facility. The Saints were on their way as well – they would be practicing later that afternoon on the Dolphins’ practice field. I’m with my friend and colleague, Gil Brandt, who helped set up the chat. We meet with Parcells and set up in the PR director’s office. The live chat begins.

After getting a couple of questions in, I’m ready to get my writer his quote. Even though it’s not technically a fan-submitted question, I decide to keep it semi-authentic by using the writer’s first name and hometown when asking the question:

“Steve from Atlanta wants to know, How will Sean Payton …” I don’t remember the exact question, but that’s irrelevant. I ask it and get ready to type in the answer. Parcells pauses, then turns to Gil sitting next to him.

“That guy’s been trying to call me all week,” Parcells says.

Oh, shit. “Steve from Atlanta” was all he needed to hear to know we were pulling a fast one. I’m busted… by Bill Parcells. I froze.

Parcells continued his aside to Gil: “Well, his team is coming over here now for practice, so I guess I’ll talk to him then.”

Ohhhh… He wasn’t talking about Steve from Atlanta calling him all week. He was talking about Payton. Not sure if my sigh of relief was visible to the others in the room, but it felt like I just got a death row pardon.

The rest of the chat went smoothly. Steve from Atlanta got his quote and wrote a great story, as usual. But here’s the other significant follow-up…

As we were leaving the facility, the Saints had just arrived. Parcells met in private with Payton after the team practice. And it was there that Parcells told Payton something that arguably gave the Saints a Super Bowl victory. Parcells told Payton he should be bold on special teams and think about doing something to steal a possession.

That was the spark that led Payton to call for an onside kick to start the second half of Super bowl XLIV. The Saints recovered and never looked back, capturing the franchise’s first and only NFL crown.

Parcells can officially take credit for winning two Super Bowls with the Giants, and he can take a little credit for the Saints’ win.

Me? Not so much. But who knows? The facts are these: Parcells was talking to me for half an hour, then he gave Sean Payton advice that helped the Saints win the Super Bowl.

Sounds like I can take a little credit, right?






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