February 5, 2007
It was great to see Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning winning a championship.
Dungy is such a beautiful person. When I arrived as the basketball coach at the University of Detroit, Dungy was a high school hoops player in Jackson. Then he went on to play football at the University of Minnesota before beginning his NFL career as a player and a coach.
I have never heard anyone say a bad word about Dungy. He defies that cry of Leo Durocher that nice guys finish last. They don't come any nicer than Dungy. If you have ever been in his company, he is exactly the same on the sideline.
I feel his team, his staff, the entire organization has so much respect for him. Dungy has such great knowledge and his ability to communicate his ideas.
Everyone has to utilize their strengths. Everybody has a different personality. You can get things done in a different manner and some succeed like Bob Knight, Bill Parcells and Mike Krzyzewski. Others succeed in their own way like Dungy and Lovie Smith.
It was also a great success story for the African-American community. Guys like KC Jones, Lenny Wilkens and Al Attles have won in the NBA. Tubby Smith won it all at Kentucky, as did Nolan Richardson at Arkansas to name a few champions.
While this is a triumphant moment, let me add that it is sad to see what is going on in college football. The sport is so far behind when there are less than 10 African-American head coaches and almost 120 Division I-A schools. That is ludicrous and absurd, an absolute joke.
As for Manning, he did not need a Super Bowl ring to justify himself as a superstar. He did not have to validate his credentials as a future Hall of Famer. That said, getting that championship will put him at a different level in the eyes of many. I think about John Elway, Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams when they won their respective championships. Suddenly people don't talk about the inability to win the big one!
Football is such a team oriented sport and you need great people around you. Only one team wins that championship and it is so difficult to even get into that position to play for a title. Obviously Manning is a great quarterback, and this win eliminates any conversation questioning his greatness.
The whole Manning family is such a class act. I was fortunate enough to be invited to a surprise 30th birthday party in Indianapolis last year, and as a person, being in his company, watching the way he treated people and youngsters. Peyton Manning doesn't do things for the camera – he is a legit person, a special one, an individual who does so much work for charity.
It is a nice story to see Manning celebrating a championship.
When you meet Archie and Olivia Manning, you see where Peyton gets it from. It is like Derek Jeter's mom and dad, and David Robinson's family as well. You understand why these athletes are so special. It all starts in that crib, with love.
I was thrilled for Dungy and Manning. I felt that if Dungy stayed in Tampa Bay, he would have won a championship. I believe the management pulled the trigger too quickly. Yes, Jon Gruden got his title with the Bucs.
When you here people talking about not winning the big one, you are still doing pretty well because you put yourself in position to compete for a title. That's why the Chicago Bears should be proud of their accomplishment and a great season.
So many play and never get in position to play for the big one. Getting to the Super Bowl makes you unique and special. We live in a world where everything is about being number one. I hear it all the time when the marquee programs in college basketball like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas, when they lose people immediately ask what is wrong with them.
Are you serious? We have not had a team enjoy a perfect season since 1976, when Knight's Hoosiers won it all with an unblemished record. It is like an unbelievable story because when you have had great success, everyone wants perfection.
This is a different day and age. When North Carolina and those schools lose, it is a big deal. Our youngsters have learned that you are a failure unless you are the best. That is crazy, baby!
At least Dungy and Manning won't have to worry about that ever again. Nobody can take away that special championship moment!
Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in December 1979. Send him a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.
