Bill Parcells makes it to Canton, Michael Strahan does not

Former Giants and Jets head coach Bill Parcells will have his day in Canton, Ohio next summer.

The coach, also known as the Tuna, was one of seven candidates to make it to the Hall of Fame. Notable players joining him will be former Vikings wide receiver Chris Carter, Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp, and offensive linemen Jonathan Ogden and Larry Allen.

Parcells turned around a fledgling Giants franchise when he took the job before the 1983 season. After a 3-12-1 start to his career, Parcells won 82 games over the next seven years with Big Blue, winning Super Bowl's XXI and XXV.

The 1986 Giants, who beat the Broncos in the Super Bowl, were on of the best teams in NFL history -- sparked by the great play of linebacker Lawrence Taylor, and the consistency of quarterback Phil Simms.

In 1990 after Simms was lost for the season, Parcells leaned on the right arm of Jeff Hostetler to take the Giants back to the big game. The Giants upset the heavily favored Buffalo Bills, 20-19 in one of the greatest Super Bowl games ever played.

After leaving New York, Parcells went up to Foxboro, Massachusetts and turned around a dead Patriots franchise taking them all the way to the Super Bowl in 1996. However, a dispute between Parcells and Patriots owner Robert Kraft eventually led to a split and Parcells left New England for the New York Jets in 1997, giving birth to one of the leagues most intense rivalries.

Parcells changed the culture of the Jets, who went 1-15 in 1996 under Rich Kotitte.

In his first year with Gang Green, Parcells led the Jets to a 9-7 record, narrowly missing the playoffs.

The following year, Parcells brought his favorite running back Curtis Martin and journeyman quarterback Vinny Testaverde to the club; the Jets went 12-4 and came within 30 minutes of Super Bowl XXXIII, before losing to Denver in the 1998 AFC title game, 23-10.

Parcells finished his coaching career with four up and down years in Dallas. While he wasn't successful in Big D, Parcells found a franchise quarterback for the Cowboys in quarterback Tony Romo.

This was the fourth year Parcells was on the ballot, and he is long overdue for this honor.

As for former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, he did not make it to the Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility.

 Strahan, is fifth all time in the NFL in sacks, and became a leader of the Giants' team that won Super Bowl XLII in 2007. However, he was usually known as clubhouse cancer during the early part of his career. Strahan's biggest accomplishment was breaking the single-season sack record; but even that was under debate at the time, because many felt that Packers quarterback Brett Favre let him have the record by sliding in front of him on purpose. Strahan will eventually get his day in Canton. So Giants' fans should not fret. Strahan has become a great ambassador for the game with his work on television, and his leadership at the end of his career left a lasting impact on current Giants Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora.

It was a great class with a lot of great candidates, and next summer at Canton is going to a great moment.