Parcells Still Pushing Young Team

Outside, it was dark. Inside the offices of the new AFC champions the lights blazed. It was 3 a.m. Monday, and Patriots coach Bill Parcells was back at work.

All that tape of Sunday’s 20-6 win over Jacksonville to look at. All that preparation for that 9:30 team meeting when he would lay out the path he already has traveled twice to Super Bowl Sunday.

After the meeting, Parcells held a running drill for his players on the same field where, 12 hours earlier, New England beat the Jaguars to win the AFC title and advance to the NFL championship game Jan. 26 against the Green Bay Packers.

He already had put in a long day, so his lack of sympathy was understandable when some players didn’t seem thrilled to be running 22 wind sprints.

Soreness or no soreness, they ran their wind sprints because they know Parcells, who won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants, has the plan to get them ready for the biggest game of their lives.

“We’re a young group of guys,” linebacker Ted Johnson said, “so we’re just going to trust that he knows what he’s talking about and go with his word.”

McMahon: Super Bowl guru

Coach Mike Holmgren is turning to his wife, Jim McMahon and Don Beebe to help prepare the Packers for the Super Bowl.

McMahon is the backup quarterback to Brett Favre. He was the starter for the Chicago Bears in their 46-10 blowout of New England in 1986, when he took New Orleans, the site of this year’s Super Bowl, by storm.

McMahon is going back to the city he took over for the 1986 Super Bowl mooning a helicopter, parading down Bourbon Street in the wee hours of the morning; feuding with Bears management over his use of an acupuncturist, and finally leading his team to a lopsided victory over New England.

“He’s kind of filled me in on how to moon helicopters,” Favre said.

Beebe, the Packers’ third wide receiver, was with the Buffalo Bills teams that lost four straight Super Bowls from 1990-93.

“Jim knows how to go to the Super Bowl and win. I don’t,” Beebe said. “Maybe they should ask Jim. I know what not to do.”

Holmgren won two Super Bowl rings as an assistant with San Francisco and his wife, Kathy, will talk to the wives and girlfriends about what they should be aware of.

Just taking care of tickets should keep everyone busy. Each player gets two tickets and can buy up to 28 more at $275 a pop.

It’s a money thing

Favre will be matched against Drew Bledsoe, and Favre was reminded by someone that a few years ago he had some critical words for Bledsoe because the youngster was making so much more money than he without having proven himself.

“I’m still playing for less money than he’s playing for, and it’s not fair,” said Favre in jest. “I think Drew’s well deserving of his contract, he’s gotten his team to the Super Bowl and I believe I will have my new deal in place before the Super Bowl. If not, so what? I won’t be going to Bourbon Street at 4 a.m. crying about it.”