BleedGopher
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per Craig:
It’s 795 miles from the front stoop of the Bierman Building at the University of Minnesota to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Tony Dungy completes that journey Saturday night when he joins the Class of 2016 with an acceptance speech about a man who wasn’t always accepted.
In fact, Dungy didn’t become one of Minnesota’s most beloved sons through birthright. Born Oct. 6, 1955, in Jackson, Mich., Dungy grew into a star athlete who chose Minnesota because of Sandy Stephens, a pioneering black quarterback who had blazed trails before him. While every other major college coach was telling Dungy he had to switch positions because of stereotypical assumptions, Gophers assistant Tom Moore recruited Dungy as a quarterback.
“Minnesota didn’t try to change who I was,” Dungy said. “I’ve never forgotten that.”
Dungy arrived in 1973. Thirty-four years later, on Feb. 4, 2007, he became the only black head coach to win a Super Bowl when his Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears. Moore was Dungy’s offensive coordinator. And Lovie Smith was the Bears coach because Dungy had paid it forward by reaching down years earlier in Tampa to lift another black man into the NFL coaching fraternity.
Dungy’s Hall of Fame journey began in earnest on that front stoop at the Bierman Building. As an 18-year-old freshman, he’d arrive early every morning and be waiting for coach Cal Stoll to unlock the door so he could study more film before classes started.
“Finally, Cal just gave Tony his own key,” former teammate and lifelong friend Ron Kullas said on the eve of that Super Bowl nine years ago.
http://www.startribune.com/dungy-s-long-path-to-nfl-hall-of-fame-began-at-u/389353701/
Go Gophers!!
It’s 795 miles from the front stoop of the Bierman Building at the University of Minnesota to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Tony Dungy completes that journey Saturday night when he joins the Class of 2016 with an acceptance speech about a man who wasn’t always accepted.
In fact, Dungy didn’t become one of Minnesota’s most beloved sons through birthright. Born Oct. 6, 1955, in Jackson, Mich., Dungy grew into a star athlete who chose Minnesota because of Sandy Stephens, a pioneering black quarterback who had blazed trails before him. While every other major college coach was telling Dungy he had to switch positions because of stereotypical assumptions, Gophers assistant Tom Moore recruited Dungy as a quarterback.
“Minnesota didn’t try to change who I was,” Dungy said. “I’ve never forgotten that.”
Dungy arrived in 1973. Thirty-four years later, on Feb. 4, 2007, he became the only black head coach to win a Super Bowl when his Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears. Moore was Dungy’s offensive coordinator. And Lovie Smith was the Bears coach because Dungy had paid it forward by reaching down years earlier in Tampa to lift another black man into the NFL coaching fraternity.
Dungy’s Hall of Fame journey began in earnest on that front stoop at the Bierman Building. As an 18-year-old freshman, he’d arrive early every morning and be waiting for coach Cal Stoll to unlock the door so he could study more film before classes started.
“Finally, Cal just gave Tony his own key,” former teammate and lifelong friend Ron Kullas said on the eve of that Super Bowl nine years ago.
http://www.startribune.com/dungy-s-long-path-to-nfl-hall-of-fame-began-at-u/389353701/
Go Gophers!!