There were a couple of occasions this season when Green Bay Packers coach Mike Holmgren phoned New England Patriots coach Bill Parcells for advice.
“I couldn’t do it this week,” Holmgren said.
Had they talked, they might have argued about their choice of jewelry for Sunday’s trip to the site of Super Bowl XXXI.
Holmgren wore a Super Bowl ring; Parcells did not.
“I haven’t worn it all season. I thought this would be a good time to wear it,” Holmgren said.
The one he wore was from Super Bowl XXIV following the 1989 season when he was offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers in their 55-10 victory over the Denver Broncos.
“I show it to (his players) at our first meeting in July, and I tell them, `I’m going to take it off now, and let’s earn a new one,’ ” Holmgren said.
Parcells won two rings as coach of the New York Giants, but brought neither.
“I purposely left mine at home,” Parcells said. “I thought about that and there is a specific reason for that, which is between myself and the team.”
Thus, the psychological showdown between Holmgren and Parcells began.
“I am the coaching underdog, I know that,” Holmgren said.
“I don’t know about that, but I know whose team is the underdog,” Parcells countered.
Holmgren said the Packers, who didn’t practice in pads last week in Green Bay, won’t practice in pads this week. Parcells said the Patriots will practice in pads because that’s how he does it. Besides, he remembers the Buffalo Bills practicing in shorts before his Giants beat them in Super Bowl XXV.
Packers safety LeRoy Butler said Holmgren didn’t make a big deal about flashing his ring during the flight.
“He’s up in first class; we’re back in coach, so we didn’t see it,” Butler said.
Holmgren said 85 percent of his game plan is in place after last week’s practice.
“We practiced as if we were playing the game today,” he said.
When they landed, the Packers were greeted by hundreds of fans.
“They had cheeseheads on, and that was great. They were trying to jump the fence and shaking their fists like we were playing today,” Butler said.
