Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells gave $4MILLION to former Giants players ‘in financial crisis’ – with no expectation to be paid back: ‘These guys have sacrificed so much for me’

Pro Football Hall of Famer and former NFL head coach Bill Parcells have loaned $4 million to former Giants players who have fallen into financial trouble, according to New York-based sports writer Gary Myers.

Myers, who is about to publish a book entitled “Once a giant : a story of victory, tragedy and life after football‘, which talks about the 1986 Super Bowl champion Giants (led by Parcells at the time), continued WFAN’s ‘Boomer & Gio’ on Friday morning to talk about Parcell’s big heart and generosity towards others, including twenty of his former players.

“People will find out how Bill Parcells made this transition from a man who had a love-hate relationship with his players to the patriarch of that ’86 team, now that Wellington Mara has been gone for a while and Bill has had his 82nd birthday. birthday recently,” Myers said.

“It’s just incredibly generous what he’s done with these guys. Bill has loaned $4 million to twenty players who played before him and who are coming to him during this financial crisis. Bill knows that if they come to him, it’s a last resort.”

Myers recalled a time when he asked Parcells why he was so charitable, given the hefty amount of money coming out of his bank account.

“He said, ‘These guys have sacrificed so much for me with their bodies and their dedication.’

Most of the recipients Parcells asked for loans were among the 1986 Giants’ members, though players from other teams the New Jerseyan coached also received financial aid — without any expectation of being paid back.

Parcells was the Giants’ head coach for eight seasons, from 1983 to 1990, and led the team to its first two Super Bowl titles in 1986 and 1990, respectively, before briefly retiring due to health problems.

However, only three years later he returned to the playing field and in 1993 became head coach of the New England Patriots. He spent four seasons in Massachusetts before coaching the New York Jets for four seasons and then the Dallas Cowboys for the last four seasons. his career.

He retired at age 65 and is the only head coach to lead four different teams to the postseason, and is a proud holder of a 172-130-1 record in the NFL.

“He’s stashed away the money he’ll need for the rest of his life, he’s given money to his children, and what’s left over is meant to help those close to him who need it.” I think it’s unprecedented,” Myers said.

“I don’t think I know of any other coach who writes checks to his former players who are in real financial distress. It’s a really cool story.’

The Giants were among the worst teams in the league before Parcells took charge, with the franchise recording just one winning season in the ten years before he arrived.

In his first year in New York, the head coach struggled to communicate his ideas across the board, finishing the season with a 3-12-1 record. Parcells was under scrutiny at the time for starting Scott Brunner at quarterback over Phil Simms.

George Young—the Giants’ general manager at the time—wanted to give Parcells the chance after just one season, wanting to bring in University of Miami head coach Schnellenberger, who eventually turned down the job anyway, so Young had to stay on the payroll of the team. team.

Parcells named Simms his starting quarterback in his second year in charge, and the duo went on to become one of the greatest combinations in NFL history.