It would’ve been difficult to write a book about Bill Parcells’ coaching career and not include any anecdotes from his time with the Dallas Cowboys.
Parcells, who coached the Cowboys to a pair of playoff appearances and a 34-30 record before retiring in 2006, is the subject of a recent authorized biography written by Nunyo Demasio.
Here are some of the Cowboys-related highlights from “Parcells: A Football Life.”
– Parcells to Tony Romo during his rookie year: “You’re never going to get it. You know what you are, Romo? You’re a ball in high grass.”
Romo: “What does that mean?”
Parcells: “Lost.”
– Parcells on not wanting to play Romo too early in his career:
“If I had put in Romo in his first year and just let him play, he would have been out of football in a year and a half. He was just a gunslinger. He was indiscriminate. And he would do [expletive] that you just can’t succeed doing. But after a year or two of practicing in the preseason, getting his [reps], you could see he had a real good chance to come along.”
– Parcells explaining to Jerry Jones why he would want to coach the Cowboys: “There are lounge acts in Vegas, and then there is the big room where Elvis and Sinatra play. The Cowboys are in the big room, which is one of the reasons I’m excited about coaching again.”
– Parcells on Jones the general manager: “Jerry doesn’t have a football philosophy, but I like what he does. He tries to get all the information he can. He’s not a talent evaluator. Now, some days he thinks he is. Some days I think I’m an oilman, but I’m not. He’s an oilman.”
– Parcells owned only 18-inch versions of the two Super Bowl trophies he won with the New York Giants. He was shocked to see that Jones had exact-size replicas of the Lombardi Trophies he won with the Cowboys at his Highland Park home.
Jones was friends with one of the Tiffany & Co. trophy makers, so for Christmas one year, Jones had two exact-size replicas made for Parcells.
“He’s a good man, he’s honest, and he’s benevolent,” Parcells said. “He’s done some wonderful things for people that no one knows about. He’s still paying medical bills for some former Cowboys coaches who’ve been out of football for a long time.”
– Parcells on Jones’ financial risk-taking: “If you told Jerry, ‘Give me $10 million this November, and by next November I’ll give you $12 million,’ he’d have no interest in that proposition. But if you said, ‘Jerry, you give me $10 million, and next year at this time, there’s a 15 percent chance you’ll have $100 million,’ he’s in. Now, I could never understand that, but that’s the kind of guy he is; he’s a risk-taker.”
– Parcells on Jones being caught on camera in April 2010, saying Parcells is, “not worth a [expletive]” and that he only hired him to get the stadium built in Arlington:
“I knew he didn’t mean it. He told me he had too much to drink. I said, ‘Don’t even think twice about it. I know how you feel about me.’ A friend’s someone that knows all about you, and likes you anyway. That’s the way I feel about Jerry being a little less than perfect, and I’m pretty sure that’s the way he feels about me.”
Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota
Parcells, who coached the Cowboys to a pair of playoff appearances and a 34-30 record before retiring in 2006, is the subject of a recent authorized biography written by Nunyo Demasio.
Here are some of the Cowboys-related highlights from “Parcells: A Football Life.”
– Parcells to Tony Romo during his rookie year: “You’re never going to get it. You know what you are, Romo? You’re a ball in high grass.”
Romo: “What does that mean?”
Parcells: “Lost.”
– Parcells on not wanting to play Romo too early in his career:
“If I had put in Romo in his first year and just let him play, he would have been out of football in a year and a half. He was just a gunslinger. He was indiscriminate. And he would do [expletive] that you just can’t succeed doing. But after a year or two of practicing in the preseason, getting his [reps], you could see he had a real good chance to come along.”
– Parcells explaining to Jerry Jones why he would want to coach the Cowboys: “There are lounge acts in Vegas, and then there is the big room where Elvis and Sinatra play. The Cowboys are in the big room, which is one of the reasons I’m excited about coaching again.”
– Parcells on Jones the general manager: “Jerry doesn’t have a football philosophy, but I like what he does. He tries to get all the information he can. He’s not a talent evaluator. Now, some days he thinks he is. Some days I think I’m an oilman, but I’m not. He’s an oilman.”
– Parcells owned only 18-inch versions of the two Super Bowl trophies he won with the New York Giants. He was shocked to see that Jones had exact-size replicas of the Lombardi Trophies he won with the Cowboys at his Highland Park home.
Jones was friends with one of the Tiffany & Co. trophy makers, so for Christmas one year, Jones had two exact-size replicas made for Parcells.
“He’s a good man, he’s honest, and he’s benevolent,” Parcells said. “He’s done some wonderful things for people that no one knows about. He’s still paying medical bills for some former Cowboys coaches who’ve been out of football for a long time.”
– Parcells on Jones’ financial risk-taking: “If you told Jerry, ‘Give me $10 million this November, and by next November I’ll give you $12 million,’ he’d have no interest in that proposition. But if you said, ‘Jerry, you give me $10 million, and next year at this time, there’s a 15 percent chance you’ll have $100 million,’ he’s in. Now, I could never understand that, but that’s the kind of guy he is; he’s a risk-taker.”
– Parcells on Jones being caught on camera in April 2010, saying Parcells is, “not worth a [expletive]” and that he only hired him to get the stadium built in Arlington:
“I knew he didn’t mean it. He told me he had too much to drink. I said, ‘Don’t even think twice about it. I know how you feel about me.’ A friend’s someone that knows all about you, and likes you anyway. That’s the way I feel about Jerry being a little less than perfect, and I’m pretty sure that’s the way he feels about me.”
Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota
