INDIANAPOLIS — Marv Levy received an up-close look at Bill Parcells in what might have been the latter’s finest coaching moment.

It was Super Bowl XXV, the first of four consecutive empty title-game trips for Levy’s Bills in the early 1990s. The Bills and their high-powered offense figured to be too much for the Giants, but Parcells’ ball-control scheme kept Jim Kelly & Co. off the field for 40 of the 60 minutes.

The Giants won 20-19, giving Parcells his second and final ring. Many believed the coach would be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, but he missed the cut of the final five.

“I was surprised 100 times in there, but so was everybody else, to tell you the truth, about a lot of things,” Levy said in a hallway of the JW Marriott, where the vote was announced. “With Parcells, I did say to my wife, ‘Wow, Bill didn’t make it.’ Yeah, it surprised me.”

The 2012 Hall of Fame class includes Curtis Martin, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, Dermontti Dawson and senior selection Jack Butler.

– Dan Hanzus

Posted in: Super Bowl  |