This Decision Goes to Parcells

The will-he-or-won’t-he game will end very quickly for Bill Parcells. Perhaps today.

The New York Jet coach, who has hedged on returning next season, said after Sunday’s season-ending 19-9 victory over Seattle that he will make an almost immediate decision on his future.

“I’m going to think this over real quick,” Parcells said after the Jets won their fourth in a row to rally from 1-6 and finish 8-8.

“We’ve got imminent changes here in the organization and I have a responsibility to the organization, and I’ll adhere to that all the way and do my best to get things squared away very quickly.”

If he is listening to the players or fans, he will return. The fans chanted “One More Year!” in the fourth quarter and the players echoed that sentiment.

“I always hope I play for that guy,” said Curtis Martin, a workhorse running back under Parcells for four of his five NFL seasons, the first two in New England. “If I had my druthers, I would say, ‘Bill, you’ve got to stay until my contract is up.’ He deserves to do what is going to make his heart sing.”

Parcells, 59, turned around three franchises. He won two Super Bowls with the Giants and got to one with the Patriots. He has been 9-7, 12-4 and 8-8 in his three seasons as Jet coach. It is the first time the Jets have had three consecutive non-losing seasons since 1967-69, when Joe Namath was the quarterback.

Parcells left the Giants after the 1990 season due to heart problems. He has been healthy recently, but said health considerations are a major factor in any career decisions.

Also of importance is the team’s sale. After owner Leon Hess died in May, the Hess family put the team on the block.

The bidding process is over and two bids are being evaluated--from Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan, and Johnson & Johnson heir Robert Wood Johnson IV.

Parcells is not allowed to be in contact with either group.

“We might not have a new owner for three months,” he said Sunday. “I’ll let you know [his decision], maybe as soon as [today].

DON’T MARCH OVER THE SAINTS

New Orleans understood why the Carolina Panthers were in it for the points Sunday, but some of the Saints were still angered by an embarrassing close to a disastrous season.

Carolina (8-8) needed to win the game with a victory margin 18 points more than Green Bay’s over Arizona to have a shot at a playoff berth. The Panthers won, 45-13, falling 11 points short.

“Everybody was kind of disappointed because they were sitting there trying to rub it in our faces,” New Orleans punter Tommy Barnhardt said. “I think that was totally uncalled for, but they’ll get their day. Their time will come.”

Carolina’s attempt to score as many points as possible also seemed to irk Saint Coach Mike Ditka, who called timeouts late in the game, tried a two-point conversion attempt with 18 seconds left and then an onside kick that the Panthers recovered.

Barnhardt said he was angered when Carolina was up, 38-7, and came out on its next series and threw three consecutive passes.

“Come on,” he said. “They had to have a lot to happen before they would get in the playoffs.”

The veteran punter then had a parting shot for Carolina Coach George Seifert.

“He is sitting there laughing walking across the field,” Barnhardt said of the postgame stroll. “He is supposed to be this Mr. Sportsman kind of guy and all of this.”

Seifert said he didn’t intend disrespect.

“It’s unfortunate that it got to this point, but it did,” Seifert said after his team tied a franchise record for points scored in a game. “We had to do everything we could to try to get the club into the playoffs.”

Some New Orleans players weren’t as angry as Barnhardt was,

“At first, I was really upset too,” Saint wide receiver Keith Poole said. “I said a few words. But I guess they needed points to get into the playoffs or something. Shoot, that’s what they’re supposed to do. We should stop them.”

Carolina quarterback Steve Beuerlein said he apologized to some of the Saints after the game.

“They know they would have done the same thing had they been put in that situation,” he said. “It’s kind of a ‘Catch-22.’ You feel terrible because you don’t like to see that happen, but we were trying to get into the playoffs. Dang it, we had to score as many points as we could and it still wasn’t enough. Hopefully, they’ll get over it.”

ALL HANDS, ABANDON SHIP

Corey Dillon joined Carl Pickens as the latest member of the Cincinnati Bengals to leave no question about his feelings toward the franchise.

“I’m out, I’m done, I’m through,” Dillon said after sitting out Cincinnati’s 24-7 loss to Jacksonville on Sunday because of a knee injury.

“I just want to go somewhere else and get my career going in the right direction,” he said.

“I’ve come in here, I’ve done my time, I’ve been a decent citizen. I came out and played hard. I don’t care what it is, I just don’t want to be here.”

Last week, Pickens said he was upset the Bengals chose to retain Coach Bruce Coslet for another year. “I’ve made no bones about it, it was a distraction,” Coslet said of Pickens’ latest rant.

Coslet also acknowledged that quarterback Jeff Blake had played his last game with the Bengals.

Blake and Coslet got along, but this is the final year of Blake’s contract, and with the arrival of Akili Smith, it seems obvious Blake won’t return.

“I’m assuming it was my last game with Jeff and we treated it as such,” Coslet said. “We gave everything we had this week. I don’t expect him to be back, I’ll be frank with you.”

ANOTHER OFFICIAL GETS PUSHED AROUND

Pittsburgh Steeler tackle Wayne Gandy was ejected for pushing referee Tom White late in Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans.

Gandy said he inadvertently shoved White away from him, thinking he was a teammate.

Gandy was quick to dismiss comparisons between his ejection and that of Cleveland Brown tackle Orlando Brown for shoving official Jeff Triplette two weeks before.

“I don’t know what to expect from the NFL, but my case was totally different,” Gandy said. “I wasn’t facing the referee, he just accidentally ran into my arm and I pushed him away. At that point I thought he was one of my teammates and I just pushed and said, ‘Get away from me.’ Then I realized he was a referee.”

Coach Bill Cowher called Gandy’s actions “flat wrong.”

“You can’t do that,” Cowher said. “Whatever they deem necessary to do, they should do it. There was some frustrations on our part, but what he did was totally uncalled for.”

THIS WEEK’S SIGN THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END

New York Jet linebacker Bryan Cox, who has been fined more than $140,000 by the NFL for various infractions during a nine-year career, was awarded the Kyle Clifton “Good Guy” Award by the club’s administrative staff Sunday.

The award is presented to the player who displays professionalism and courtesy to teammates, staff and coaches.

“It’s an honor and a pleasure to receive this award, especially because of the reputation I have around the NFL,” Cox said.

“It’s nice to be able to turn that reputation around and show people that I’m not what the perception around the league is.”

A Ratings Hit

Ram quarterback Kurt Warner finished with the fifth-highest passer rating in NFL history:

Player, Team Rating

Steve Young, 1994 San Francisco 49ers: 112.8

Joe Montana, 1989 San Francisco 49ers: 112.4

Milt Plum, 1960 Cleveland Browns: 110.4

Sammy Baugh, 1945 Washington Redskins: 109.9

Kurt Warner, 1999 St. Louis Rams: 109.1

Dan Marino, 1984 Miami Dolphins: 108.9

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--Compiled by Houston Mitchell