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Let’s forget for a second what he became. Let’s just focus about what Giants fans knew about Duane Charles Parcells — better known as Bill — exactly 41 years ago Sunday: Dec. 22, 1983.
Two days earlier the Giants had lost a hard-fought 31-22 decision in D.C. to 14-2 Washington. Ali Haji-Sheikh booted five field goals to set an NFL single-season record of 35.
“I’m happy for him, but I wish he didn’t have that record,” Parcells said after, reflective of a season-wide inability of the Giants to score touchdowns. That sound familiar?
This should, too: The Giants were 13-point underdogs but played gamely despite being riddled with injuries. And afterward, and not for the first time, Parcells uttered (and maybe invented) the phrase that will probably outlive him by 300 years.