The NFL announced the 2012 Hall of Fame class and the two players with Dallas Cowboys' ties did not make it. Bill Parcells and Charles Haley both made the finalists list and they both made it to the final ten. However, neither man made it to the Hall of Fame in 2012, a list of players that includes only one skill position player (Curtis Martin) as well as four linemen and a senior selection.
Charles Haley
Charles Haley has done almost everything you could want to do in an NFL career. He won five Super Bowl titles, splitting time between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. No player in the history of the NFL has ever won five Super Bowl rings and yet Haley still is not in the NFL Hall of Fame.
Haley played in five Pro Bowls, earned two All-Pro honors and played in seven NFC Championship games over his career. If you want to know how important Haley was, his San Francisco 49ers were the most dominant team of the '80s but when they sent him to Dallas, the Cowboys exploded and won three Super Bowls in four seasons. Was this all because of Haley? Of course it wasn't but it is more than just coincidence.
Haley finished his career with 100.5 sacks, 485 tackles, eight fumble recoveries and two interceptions over his eight year career.
Bill Parcells
The Big Tuna will get into the NFL Hall of Fame. It's just a question of when. This year's only skill player, Curtis Martin, said during the selection show that he would not have made it to the level he did if not for Parcells, when he coached the New York Jets.
Parcells coached the New York Giants to Super Bowl victories in 1987 and 1991 and also lost the 1997 Super Bowl while coaching the New England Patriots. His career record, including postseason appearances, is 183-138-1.
Parcells final stop as a head coach was with the Dallas Cowboys. The team had suffered three straight 5-11 finishes when he came in. In his first year, he led Dallas to a 10-6 record and became the first NFL head coach to lead four different teams to the playoffs.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
