The NFL acknowledges it has lost one of the games most influential coaches.
Many sit-com fathers over the years have scolded their children not with grounding or chores, but simply telling their sit-com kids how disappointed they are. Many sit-com kids, in turn, have explained that the knowledge of a disappointed father is worse than any punishment that could be received.
That is how Dungy coached. Many of his players have cited the feeling of knowing they let Coach Dungy down. Worse than running laps, worse than being screamed at, worse than having a coach who gets in your face to the point where you can taste his spit?
Why does it bother us when we let certain people down? Why is it we cannot sleep when we know some one we care about is disappointed in us?
Perhaps it's because we hold those people in such high regard. We want to make those people happy, no matter what that means. Why? Because we know they have lived in such a way to deserve to be happy. That is Tony Dungy.
There's quite a list of accomplishments Coach Dungy could remind us of. He was a featured high school athlete in Sports Illustrated. He is the first NFL head coach to defeat every team in the NFL. He is the 6th man ever to have played and coached in a Super Bowl.
Being the first black coach to win a super bowl.
Having a website www.tonydungyforpresident.com, along with a petition to sign and survey to take. (Created by someone else obviously)
These are massive accomplishments to say the least, but they're not the ones Tony will want us to remember him for.
Gary Shelton, Time Sports Columnist put it this way. "He was an excellent football coach. He was a better person. Along the way, he touched people. And that is what you should remember about Dungy"
Make no mistake; this is not a Brett Favre style retirement. It wasn't extremely emotional, and you can be sure he'll stay retired. A man like Tony Dungy takes these decisions more seriously than can be expressed here. The next time we see Tony give a speech, it will likely be in Canton Ohio when he's inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
And it's not as if Tony will be twiddling his thumbs at home in the meantime. He has several impressive organizations for helping troubled youth. Not to mention a family he's been living apart from for three seasons. These prospects are opportunities for Coach Dungy to live his faith, something he's looking forward to.
It will most likely take some time for the loss of Dungy to fully sink into NFL fans. Most people will probably be sitting in front of the TV early next season and think to ourselves. "Something's missing here, what is it?"
Only one of the greatest men this league has ever seen.
It's hard to think that the NFL has lost an "irreplaceable" coach.
Then again, it's hard to argue with that statement too.
