They Passed on the Tuna

The 2012 NFL Hall of Fame class was announced tonight. Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, Dermontti Dawson, Jack Butler and Curtis Martin. There were a few notable omissions at the wide receiver position in Andre Reed, Tim Brown and Cris Carter (still can't believe Carter's not in). However, the most glaring omission to me: coach Bill Parcells.

Parcells is most likely the most respected head coach I've seen in my 27 years of existence. In his 22 seasons as a head coach, he had a losing record in just five. He went to three Super Bowls and won two of them with my beloved Giants.

The Big Tuna revolutionized the Giants franchise in the mid-1980's (yes, with the help of a couple Hall of Fame linebackers and a stud QB). It's also very easy to say he built the foundation of the tremendous success of the New England Patriots with Drew Bledsoe (but if Mo Lewis hadn't knocked out Bledsoe then would we ever had known who Tom Brady was?).

He's atop one of the most impressive coaching tree in the history of the NFL. Let's start with the two coaches playing in Super Bowl XLVI: Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick, who were both on his Super Bowl XXV winning staff along with Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. Super Bowl winning head coach Sean Payton was on his staff in Dallas as well.

While I'm still upset he "retired" following his second Super Bowl victory with the Giants, if it wasn't for him, the Giants may have continued to be a laughing stock throughout the 1980's and may not be what they are today. He is no doubt a Hall of Fame coach and hopefully is elected in 2013.