Posts tagged TonyDungy at FanHouse

The Colts will apparently face a dilemma Sunday night if the Chicago Bears win the opening coin flip in spankin' new Lucas Oil Stadium ... whether or not to kick the ball deep to greatest returner in NFL history. Wait, hold on ... I'm getting something here:



They could not have possibly forgotten that play already. Yes, I'm sure they also remember they won the game. They'd likely be able to overcome a Devin Hester TD to win this one, too. They are a much better team on paper than the Bears. That's obvious. My question, though, is why? Why let Hester christen your new digs? I've gotta believe they want the first touchdown in their new stadium to be from a Colt, not a Bear.

Nearly two years ago, Tony Dungy became the first black head coach to win a Super Bowl. He's also considered one of the nicest guys in sports, a committed family man, and a devout Christian who also has strong views on homosexuality, and gay marriage, in particular.

In the past, Dungy has shared his thoughts on what he would do if he had a gay player on his team, and has supported the Indiana Family Institute, "a conservative policy organization that has sought to make gay marriage specifically illegal in the state of Indiana."

So it's with some surprise that the Colts head coach would be such a big fan of the Democratic nominee for president, Barack Obama. From Peter King's MMQB:

"I pay a lot of attention to it. I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime and until [the] Iowa [primary], I still had my doubts whether it would happen. It's thrilling. It's important. When we won the Super Bowl, people said to me they never thought they'd see an African-American coach in that position. But this is so much more significant, obviously. It's great for our country."
--Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy, on Barack Obama winning the Democratic presidential nomination.

I asked Dungy if he'd be interested in making an appearance with Obama, if the senator asked.

"I would do it,'' he said, smiling broadly.

This isn't the first time Dungy has praised Obama, but it paints an interesting portrait of a deeply religious man who also appreciates the struggles of African-Americans in this country.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterbacks: Peyton Manning is returning from injury, and if he doesn't in time the Colts are in serious trouble. Jim Sorgi hasn't shown himself capable in the pre-season while working with the machine known as the Colts offense, and you can't trust Jared Lorenzen as far as you can throw him (love to see anyone try that, by the way). Of course, it's Peyton ... don't worry. He doesn't miss regular season games. Heat Index: 9

As late as last evening, Coach Tony Dungy stated that Marvin Harrison would not suit up until the team's third pre-season game. Well, Harrison must own some custom-made healing potion -- from Belgium, of course -- because less than an hour ago an announcement was made that Harrison will go tomorrow night in Carolina.

" ... the eight-time Pro Bowl receiver participated in two practices in a day for the first time Thursday and came away wanting to play.

"He actually wanted to work those two practices, made it through OK, felt good, wants to get a little bit in," Dungy said.

You don't need me to tell you that this is big news for the Colts. This is only the second pre-season game for the horse, and they get an extra one because of their inclusion in the Hall of Fame Game. With three more exhibitions coming after this one, why push Harrison if he's not ready?

Exactly.

You don't build an NFL team via free agency or trades. Unlike a few other sports, you really can't. There are too many players and salary cap implications. This is why you'll never see a team reload like the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Cubs can in baseball, for example. The best football franchises are the ones that understand this -- like the Pats, Chargers, etc. -- and do it well.

This just in: Colts Prez Bill Polian knows what he's doing. Whether it was choosing Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf, Edgerrin James over Ricky Williams, letting Edge walk and replacing him with Joseph Addai instead of LenDale White ... most of what he touches turns to gold. There are a ton of low-profile draftees as well. This whole team was built via the draft.

That is why it was hardly surprising to see a crop of unheralded rookies exceed expectations Sunday night in Canton.

"There were a lot of really good performances from our young guys that have us excited," Dungy said Monday afternoon.

I'll say.

Look, I understand the game was completely meaningless and many high-profile stars didn't even suit up. In fact, by the time most of these guys shined there were a bunch of dudes playing that won't even make the Redskins final roster.

Even though Peyton Manning lost out to Tom Brady as the NFL's best quarterback, there is some good news for the Colts: head coach Tony Dungy is convinced that Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney will be ready for the season opener Sept. 7, even though they probably won't be available at the start of training camp later this month.

Even better news: Harrison continues to not be a suspect in a Philadelphia club shooting this spring.

"Right before we closed out our OTAs [Harrison] was there and he was running," Dungy said. "For the first time in a long time I saw a smile on his face because he was running pain free. So we feel good about where he's going to be physically opening up this year. Everything we've heard and communicated from the Philadelphia police department, he's not a suspect in what's going on there. So again, we feel pretty good about where he's going to be."

So there's that. But even late last season, before the legal issues, Warner wondered if the Colts really needed Harrison. Obviously, he's an important part of the offense when healthy, but Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Anthony Gonzalez and Joseph Addai aren't exactly stiffs.

The Colts begin their three-day minicamp today, and it will mark the triumphant return of shoulda-been Super Bowl MVP Dominic Rhodes. Actually, Rhodes was recently dumped by the Raiders after one disappointing season, but regardless, he should pick up where he left off in 2006: serving as a nice change-of-pace to the workhorse back, in this case Joseph Addai.

Indianapolis will also go about replacing guard Jake Scott, a potentially big loss since the offense is predicated on Peyton Manning feeling comfortable in the pocket.

But perhaps the biggest issue heading into 2008 is the status of potential Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison. He's been busy this offseason, although how busy is still up in the air at this point. Harrison was questioned by Philadelphia police about an April 29 shooting, although he denies any involvement and the police don't consider him a suspect at this point.

As far as head coach Tony Dungy knows, Harrison will be at practice today, even though it sounds like he hasn't talked to his Pro Bowl wideout. Even before the legal run-in, Harrison had struggled with injuries last season, and at 35, there's reason to think he's finally slowing down.

And while it sounds ludicrous to say, the Colts should be able to manage in his absence; they did it in 2007 with Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and rookie Anthony Gonzalez. Now only difference is that Gonzalez has more experience and is fully recovered from a hand injury.

Colts coach Tony Dungy recently spoke to students at a high school in Tampa, and the Tampa Tribune reports that when a student asked him if there is anything from the 2007 NFL season that he wishes he could have put in his autobiography, he brought up Patriots Spygate story:

"We talk about how important it is to do things the right way and have integrity so that when you do win, people can never ask that question," he said. "That's the great thing that I'm happy about with our team.

"Yes, we won. But no one is really going to ask, 'Did they cheat? Did they do things the right way?' I think our record speaks for itself and if you're a true champion, that's the way you'd like it to be."

The implication from Dungy seems to be that the Colts are more of a "true champion" than the Patriots because people ask of the Patriots, "did they cheat?" For all the talk that Dungy and Bill Belichick have had rather frosty exchanges when their teams have played, their next post-game handshake could be even more awkward.

Well, maybe this is why Rod Marinelli is being so honest about his draft plans.

After the Lions hired Marinelli in 2006, Dungy knew what they would do with the ninth overall pick that year.

"I teased Rod before the draft," Dungy said. "I said, 'You can't hide your first-round pick as much as you think. I know you're taking Ernie Sims, because this is a guy who just epitomizes what you're all about, what you're trying to sell.' And he kind of just said, 'Well, we're going to evaluate things and see what happens.' "

The rest, as they say, is history. Though I still maintain that the concepts of smokescreens are overrated -- teams know, for the most part, which players teams covet -- maybe Marinelli's forthright attitude is just a way of sparing Tony Dungy the guess work (though for what it's worth Dungy claims he hasn't done the research to figure out who the Lions are taking -- right). Or maybe he's just an honest dude. Tough to believe in the NFL, I know, but totally plausible.

Still, Dungy might have a better clue than the rest of the league, seeing as how he served as Marinelli's boss during their time in Tampa. That might present a problem if the Colts were ever rivaling the Lions for a specific player, but considering the fact that the two teams have historically drafted at opposite ends of the first round, I don't think Marinelli has any cause for worry.

Remember Week 17, when the Browns, in order to sneak into the playoffs, needed the Colts to beat the Titans? It was an otherwise meaningless game, which is why head coach Tony Dungy was more concerned with his players' safety in preparation for the postseason than he was with the outcome.

Needless to say, that didn't go over well in Cleveland, and Kerry Collins' post-game comments only exacerbated things.

Almost three months later, Dungy, fully aware of his George W-esque approval rating in the greater Cleveland area, caught up with Plain Dealer reporter Tony Grossi to ask a simple question: "What did people in Cleveland want me to do, keep Peyton (Manning) in with a 30-0 lead?" Grossi explained:

I told Dungy that Browns fans, hurt by their team's loss to Cincinnati the week before, wanted Dungy to play Manning long enough to get a lead and then play defense to win.

"That's what I wanted," Dungy said. "But we went downfield on our first drive and lost the ball."

Eh, I hardly think it's Dungy's responsibility to get the Browns into the playoffs. As Grossi points out, if Cleveland hadn't crapped the bed against Cincinnati the week before, nobody would've cared what the Colts and Titans did. Of course, this probably didn't help either.

And unlike the NFL, at least Dungy apologized. Feel better, Cleveland fans?