Bill Parcells, Robert Kraft squash 30-year feud as legendary coach chosen for Patriots Hall of Fame

Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former head coach Bill Parcells have seemingly made amends decades after the coach’s exit to the AFC East rival Jets in 1997.On Tuesday, Kraft announced at the NFL owners meetings that Parcells will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame as a contributor this year and explained the timing was right for him to be honored with a red jacket in Foxborough.Parcells was the head coach of the Patriots for four seasons (1993-96) and led them to two playoff berths and a Super Bowl appearance — after inheriting a team that had finished 14-50 in the previous four years.Parcells had been a finalist five times for the honor in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2020 and 2023.“He had been a finalist for five years, and while both of us are alive … I thought it would be great given what he’s done for the team,” Kraft, who turns 84 in June, told The Boston Globe.

Parcells, who was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012, will turn 84 in August.It was widely believed that Parcells was snubbed for the team’s Hall of Fame after his falling out with Kraft in the mid-90s.At the time, Parcells wanted personnel control and Kraft wouldn’t budge — and Kraft wasn’t thrilled that rumors of Parcells leaving for the Jets overshadowed the Patriots’ Super Bowl against the Packers in 1997.Green Bay beat New England, 35-21, and Parcells took his talents to the Jets.“I personally feel that those days are over,” Parcells told The Boston Globe via phone.

“Life’s too short for that kind of stuff.We haven’t interacted much, but I think we both pretty much feel the same way.”Kraft initially wanted to surprise Parcells by delivering the news in person during a visit to Jupiter, Fla., where Parcells is a resident in the winter.However, Kraft wound up calling the two-time Super Bowl champ as Parcells was in the process of driving to his summer home in Saratoga.“I’m very honored.

I am,” Parcells said of Kraft’s call.“I don’...