Win means an awful lot, says Dungy
MIAMI: Tony Dungy became the first black coach to win a Super Bowl crown, but the man who guided the Indianapolis Colts to victory here Sunday in Super Bowl 41 longs for the day when such a feat is not such a feat.
Dungy's Colts defeated Chicago 29-17 to bring their Indiana home its first National Football League title, defeating another black coach in the Bears' Lovie Smith as both men were the first black coaches to reach the title game.
"I'm proud to be the first African-American to win this," Dungy said. "It means an awful lot to our country."
Smith, who worked as an assistant to Dungy for five years when they were both at Tampa Bay, agreed with his former boss that the true measure of the impact of their breakthrough will be when it becomes more commonplace.
"I hope for a day when it is unnoticed," Smith said. "But that day isn't here."
Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy watches the action against the Chicago Bears in the rain during the third quarter of the NFL's Super Bowl XLI football game in Miami, Florida on Sunday. Reuters |
Nearly 60 years after Jackie Robinson became the first black player in Major League Baseball and almost 10 years after Tiger Woods became the first black man to win a major golf crown, Dungy joined them as historic figures.
"It's a very, very proud moment for me," Dungy said. "I feel honored to be the first one to carry that mantle forward."
Dungy paid homage to the black men who went before him but was especially hopeful about the impact his achievement would have upon future generations.
"I feel like we're going through a process that is going to change the way football is looked at, especially with young kids," Dungy said.
"I know when I was young watching Super Bowls I thought about being a player in the game and how great that would be. I never really thought of being a coach in the Super Bowl, it just didn't seem realistic.
"And I think now it will seem realistic to young African-American kids and that's great."
Dungy, 51, would not commit to returning next season after serving as an NFL head coach for 11 years.
But as he spoke after the game, he recalled the 15-year journey he took to go from being an NFL assistant to simply getting a head coaching post and how many black assistant coaches before him never had a turn at the top job.
"Lovie and I have been able to take advantage of (the opportunity)," Dungy said. "But we're certainly not the best, certainly not the most qualified and I know there's some other guys who could have done it, given the chance.
"So I just feel good I was the first one to be able to do it and represent those guys that paved the way for me."
Dungy looked to his inspirations who never had the chance to guide teams in thanking God for his opportunity.
"I have to dedicate this to guys who came before me - Jimmy Raye, Sherman Lewis, Lionel Taylor," Dungy said. "They were great coaches who could have done this if they had gotten the opportunity..
"The Lord gave Lovie and I the opportunity. I felt good that I was the first one to do it and represent those guys who paved the way for me."
Dungy enjoyed the high point of his career 13 months after the suicide of his son James. He is only the second man to play in a Super Bowl for the winner and coach a team in a Super Bowl win. Chicago's Mike Ditka was the other.
Smith is the lowest-paid head coach in the NFL at $1.3 million a year but is set to negotiate a new deal after a final season on his current contract.
The NFL's first black head coach was Art Shell of the Los Angeles Raiders in 1989. Eight black head coaches have guided NFL clubs through a total of 51 seasons, 27 of which ended in trips to the playoffs.
Black coaches guided teams within one victory of the Super Bowl five prior times but lost, including Shell in 1990, Dennis Green with Minnesota in 1998 and 2000 and Dungy in 1999 with Tampa Bay and 2003 with the Colts.
AFP
(China Daily 02/07/2007 page23)
