1997: Bill Parcells Becomes Head Coach of New York Jets

On February 11, 1997 the New York Jets finally were able to sign the head coach they wanted, Bill Parcells. It was not an easily done deal for the franchise that had gone 4-28 in two seasons under Rich Kotite and had not been over .500 in any of the previous eight years.

Bill Parcells had established himself as a winning NFL coach with New York’s other team, the Giants, where he led the club to two championships and five postseason berths from 1983 through ’90. After retreating to the broadcast booth for two years, he had turned around a New England Patriots team that had been in a prolonged slump and reached the playoffs twice more, including a Super Bowl appearance following the 1996 season.

However, before the Patriots faced Green Bay in the Super Bowl there was already speculation that Parcells wanted to leave. He clashed with owner Robert Kraft and was dissatisfied with his level of input into player personnel decisions. Following the 35-21 loss to the Packers, Parcells left the Patriots.

Parcells wasn’t ready to step away from the sideline and sought to fill the Jets opening. Kraft made clear that Parcells had to abide by the terms of his contract, which meant he couldn’t coach any team but the Patriots in 1997. The Jets therefore announced that they would hire Parcells as a consultant to the team, and his chief assistant coach, Bill Belichick, would become head coach.

Kraft was not about to accept such an arrangement, and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was forced to intervene. The commissioner agreed with Kraft that the consulting arrangement was unacceptable, and brokered an agreement between the teams that freed Parcells to become coach of the Jets at the expense of four draft picks, including a first round choice in 1999.

The Jets finally had Parcells as head coach; Belichick settled for assistant head coach (he would, of course, eventually make his way back to the Patriots with significant results). The new coach set about changing the makeup and attitude of the team. Following the 1-15 record of 1996, the ’97 Jets went 9-7 and nearly made the postseason. RB Adrian Murrell had a second straight thousand-yard rushing season (1086). The youthful receiving corps made progress, led by brash second-year WR Keyshawn Johnson (70 catches for 963 yards). The linebacking corps that included Marvin Jones and Mo Lewis, as well as aging ex-Giant Pepper Johnson, and CB Aaron Glenn highlighted the defense.

Quarterback was a problem area, where veteran Neil O’Donnell ran afoul of Parcells and was replaced by the gunslinging Glenn Foley until Foley fell to a knee injury. The offensive and defensive lines were ordinary at best, and the same could be said of the secondary aside from Glenn. Still, the club gave up far fewer points in ’97 (287) as opposed to the disastrous 1996 season (454)

The Jets took a major plunge into the free agent market for 1998 and it paid off with key acquisitions in QB Vinny Testaverde, RB Curtis Martin (who had played for Parcells in New England), C Kevin Mawae, and LB Bryan Cox. All excelled – in particular Testaverde – and the team surged to 12-4, making it all the way to the AFC Championship game before falling to the Denver Broncos.

The Jets dropped to 8-8 in 1999, the last season with Parcells at the helm. While he failed to make the Super Bowl with the Jets, as he had with the Giants and Patriots, his overall record was 29-19 in the regular season, 1-1 in the playoffs. It was a significant turnaround for the franchise, and the team put together winning records in the next three seasons following Parcells’ departure. The price for landing the coach known as “the Big Tuna” had been high, but he had brought much-needed respectability.

1998: Terrell Davis Runs Broncos Past Packers in Super Bowl XXXII

In four appearances in the Super Bowl prior to the 1997 season, the Denver Broncos had experienced only disappointment. In three of them, John Elway had been the quarterback and had taken criticism for coming up short in the biggest game. He was 37 years old and in his 15th season in ’97, and time was running short. Head Coach Mike Shanahan’s team had gone 13-3 in 1996, only to lose in the Divisional round of the playoffs, but came back with a 12-4 record that was good enough for second place in the AFC West and a wild card spot. Elway had a typically outstanding year, throwing for 3635 yards and a career-high 27 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. WR Rod Smith (70 receptions, 1180 yards) and TE Shannon Sharpe (72 catches, 1107 yards) provided reliable targets. Third-year RB Terrell Davis (pictured), with 1750 rushing yards and a league-leading 15 TDs on the ground, supplied a key ingredient to the offense.

Denver easily got past Jacksonville in the Wild Card playoff and then defeated Kansas City in the next round (the team they had finished behind in the division) and Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship.

The NFC’s representative in Super Bowl XXXII was the Green Bay Packers, who were the defending champions. Under Head Coach Mike Holmgren, they had matched their 13-3 record of ’96 in winning the NFC Central. They featured QB Brett Favre (pictured below), who was the Associated Press NFL MVP for the third consecutive year (tied, this time, with Detroit RB Barry Sanders). Favre had led the NFL with 35 TD passes, 12 of them to WR Antonio Freeman (81 receptions, 1243 yards) and 7 more to WR Robert Brooks (60 catches, 1010 yards). Pro Bowl RB Dorsey Levens ran for 1435 yards and caught 53 passes as well. The solid defense featured DE Reggie White and SS LeRoy Butler.


The Packers defeated the Buccaneers in the Divisional round and San Francisco to repeat as conference champions. They were 12-point favorites entering Super Bowl XXXII, and the NFC had won the previous 13 straight NFL championships.

There were 68,912 fans on hand at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium for the game on January 25, 1998. Favre wasted no time, driving the Packers to the first score of the game in a four-minute opening possession that included three passes for 48 yards to Freeman, including a 22-yard TD pass. Denver responded in kind, featuring Davis carrying the ball five times for 42 yards; he capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Elway completed no passes on the possession, but had a 10-yard scramble to set up first-and-goal. The score stood at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Broncos took advantage of Green Bay turnovers to score 10 more points in the second quarter. First, DE Neil Smith recovered a Favre fumble that set up a 51-yard field goal by Jason Elam. Then SS Tyrone Braxton intercepted a pass that resulted in Denver’s offense going 45 yards in eight plays, ending with a two-yard run by Elway.

Down 17-7, the Packers fought back with a long drive of 17 plays that used up over seven minutes and ended in a Favre touchdown pass to TE Mark Chmura with twelve seconds left in the half.

Denver had missed the running of Terrell Davis for much of the second quarter, due to his taking a kick in the head, after rushing for 62 yards on 9 carries. He fumbled on the first play of the second half, with CB Tyrone Williams recovering for Green Bay. Ryan Longwell followed up with a 27-yard field goal to tie the game at 17-17.

The Broncos came back as Elway and Davis, making up for the fumble and having shaken off the effects of the injury, keyed a 13-play, 92-yard scoring drive. Eight of the plays were runs by Davis, including the one-yard touchdown that put Denver back in the lead at 24-17. Elway completed a 36-yard pass to WR Ed McCaffrey and, in a third-and-six situation, ran for eight yards that included a dive at the end to give the Broncos a first-and-goal.

After FS Eugene Robinson intercepted an Elway pass in the end zone, it was Brett Favre’s turn. The Packers again tied the score early in the fourth quarter, once more on a Favre pass to Freeman of 13 yards. Neither team was able to move the ball in its next possession as they traded punts. With 3:27 remaining, Denver took over just inside Green Bay territory. Thanks to a 15-yard face mask penalty and an Elway screen pass to FB Howard Griffith that covered 23 yards, the Broncos had first-and-goal at the eight yard line. They were backed up by holding penalty, but Davis responded with a 17-yard run to the one, and scored his third TD of the game untouched from there.

With time running out, the Packers charged down the field into Denver territory. However, a fourth-down pass by Favre was batted away by LB John Mobley and the Broncos were champions by a 31-24 score.


Terrell Davis was the game’s MVP, having run the ball 30 times for 157 yards with the three touchdowns. John Elway (pictured at right) had modest statistics, as he completed 12 of 22 passes for 123 yards with an interception, but made key runs (including a score) among his 17 yards on five carries and guided the offense well. Shannon Sharpe caught the most passes for the Broncos, with 5 (for 38 yards), while Ed McCaffrey was the leader in receiving yards with 45 on two catches.

For Green Bay, Brett Favre had 25 completions in 42 passing attempts for 256 yards and three TDs along with an interception. Antonio Freeman (pictured at bottom) caught 9 passes for 126 yards and two scores. Dorsey Levens ran effectively, with 90 yards on 19 carries; he also caught 6 passes for another 56 yards.

Denver repeated as champion in 1998 with an even stronger season in what was Elway’s last year; after all the Super Bowl disappointments in his Hall of Fame career, he capped it with two titles. The Packers were back in the playoffs in ’98, but as a wild card team that lost in the first round. They would not be back in the postseason until 2001.