Sports: What they're saying about Bill Parcells

What they're saying about Bill Parcells

By JOHN J. THORNTON

"This makes you think about everything you possibly could have done to make it better. You look back at maybe, "I could have taken a better step on this play.' I played my butt off for Coach Dungy. I know that. There's a couple of technique things here and there I wish I could have done better. And I'm sure that's going to be everybody's case. You start thinking about those things, but it doesn't start to hit home until you get to a point like this." "This makes you think about everything you possibly could have done to make it better. You look back at maybe, "I could have taken a better step on this play.' I played my butt off for Coach Dungy. I know that. There's a couple of technique things here and there I wish I could have done better. And I'm sure that's going to be everybody's case. You start thinking about those things, but it doesn't start to hit home until you get to a point like this."

JERRY WUNSCH, Bucs offensive tackle

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"It's just the way of the NFL. There's change when you need it or when you don't need it. If we come in and we go to the Super Bowl next year, everyone's going to say this was a great decision. If we don't, then I don't know. It's up to (the media) to (decide) that."

JEFF CHRISTY, Bucs center

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"Bill (Parcells) is one of those guys I'd come out of my grave to play for."

CURTIS MARTIN, Jets running back

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"If you play under Parcells, you know he has a certain itch to coach, and I didn't think he'd be gone long."

AARON GLENN, Jets cornerback

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"I'm glad I had the opportunity to play for him for at least one year. I wish I had other opportunities prior to that. We don't always get what we want."

VINNY TESTAVERDE, Jets quarterback

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"It was a shabby way to treat a coach who rescued the franchise from oblivion and ridicule. The Glazers have every right to hire and fire whomever they please; they had no right to ignore the public or Dungy's feelings with their cowering silence. ...

"You can agree with (Keyshawn) Johnson that Parcells never will allow his players to talk the talk better than they walk the walk. You can even accuse Dungy's defenses of being too simplistic and predictable and vulnerable.

"But you shouldn't treat him like chattel."

DON PIERSON, Chicago Tribune

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"After watching this fiasco unfold over the last week, I have to ask: Is there no room left in this game for class, integrity and character?

"In 1995 Malcolm Glazer bought a team that had two winning seasons in 20 years. He then watched (one would assume) as Dungy took the Bucs to the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, including a run to the 1999 NFC Championship Game. During that span Dungy also sent 29 players to the Pro Bowl and won nine or more games four times. Most owners would be pretty happy with that.

"Dungy's reward, however, was a cesspool of rumor and innuendo swirling around him as he tried to prepare for the playoffs while simultaneously mourning the death of his mother."

DAVID FLEMING, ESPN.com

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"Yes, the offense was lacking. But more than that, the Bucs lacked heart.

"Parcells better be as good a heart surgeon as he is a head coach, because this team is in serious need of a transplant."

CHAREAN WILLIAMS, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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"Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.' Leo Durocher said, "Nice guys don't win ballgames.' If these legendary sports figures are right, then how would they explain Tony Dungy, a nice guy who won 56 percent of his games as head coach of the Bucs? Bill Parcells, Tony's (possible) replacement, won only 58 percent of his games and he's not nearly as nice as Tony. Some things are beyond explanation. Tony Dungy's firing, I suppose, is one of them."

FRED NASSIF, Clearwater