On Tony Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts

Tony Dungy has been one of my heroes for a long time. His diligence and consistency has helped the Colts to be as successful as they have been these past 5 years. The way he treats his players and staff in public is a great example for all leaders. Funny how that wisdom comes from Solomon and the book of Proverbs.

Jim Irsay, Bill Polian, Tony Dungy, and the entire Colts staff have brought a quality product to the market. SuperBowl or no SuperBowl. If Pittsburgh had not kept Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher around for as long as they did how many Superbowls would they have won? The Colts organization is a shining example for how corporate leaders should behave and Dungy is the face of the franchise.

Winning a Superbowl requires good players, a consistency system, and great individual effort in the play-offs. By my count the Colts missed good chances in 2003 and 2005 to make the superbowl. Those chances were missed mostly because individual players did not make the supreme effort. By supreme effort let me call your attention to Nick Harper against PittsBurgh in 2005 playing with a stab wound. Remember Eddie George against Baltimore in 2003. Eddie made the supreme effort despite a shoulder injury sustained during the game. Remember Emmit Smith willing Dallas to the Superbowl in 1992 despite significant injury. These players have or will have productive lives after football because the community remembers their contribution and opportunities are afforded.

Management, coaching, and the system of play provide the opportunity to challenge for the Superbowl each year. Players win the games. Perhaps Mike Vanderjagt might take a lesson from this rather than walking around with a chip on his shoulder during those years after calling out Peyton and Dungy in 2002. Perhaps in 2003 Edgerrin James might also taken the example of Emmit Smith instead of worrying about his contract when we were challenging for the AFC championship.

Despite the injuries and the players lost this 2006 year, The Colts are still in a good position to win. Dungy and his coaching staff have put together a winning system of play, Polian and his management staff have assembled a quality group of players, and Irsay and the Indianopolis community has provided the funds to make it happen. Now its up to the players to make that supreme effort to win 3 or 4 games straight. The individual players who step up to the task will be heroes for the rest of their lives.