Super Bowl Black Coaches (XLI)

For the first time since last year, two white quarterbacks will compete in the Super Bowl. When asked about it, Peyton Manning was humbled. “Well you know after the unending media hype that revolved around Donavon (McNabb Philadelphia Eagles) and Mike (Vick Atlanta Falcons), I feel pretty fortunate to be here. Asked if the white quarterback is soon to be a thing of the past, like the white running back, Manning said, “I don’t know, if you can throw the ball on a rope 60 yards and hit a receiver in stride, there’s probably going to be place for you in the NFL irrespective of the color of your skin.” Rarer yet than a white quarterback is seeing a white guy on the defensive side of the ball. But Brian Urlacher will start as the middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears. Urlacher said that the NFL was making tremendous strides in getting white players on the defensive side of the ball.

OK that’s a bit of tongue in cheek fun with the MSM’s obsession with the skin color of the two coaches squaring off in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLI. I suppose it’s useful, to a point, to make note of the strides black men have made in coaching and in the front offices of NFL teams. But after two weeks, the point has been made. Maybe there is something else worth knowing about these two guys besides the color of their skin.

I’ve known of Tony Dungy since he quarterbacked the University of Minnesota for what seemed like 10 seasons – he started as a freshman and played four seasons. I’ve followed him since he was a defensive coordinator in Minnesota. I lived in Tampa FL when he took over the Buccaneers and turned what was a whipping boy into a winning franchise. Now Dungy is in Indianapolis and Lex is in Ft. Wayne, IN. So, I’ve seen and read a lot about Tony Dungy. What strikes me about him is not that he is black but rather what a totally class act he is. Never has he placed blame for a defeat on anyone other than himself and only then while giving great credit to his opponent. Dungy has never engaged the type of screaming, yelling, taunting, profanity laced, look at me everyone, in your face BS that has become the norm in the NFL for players and some coaches.

I don’t know much about Lovie Smith the coach for the Chicago Bears. Like Dungy, he seems pretty unflappable and level headed. He seems to have a great loyalty to his players. Smith has stuck with his much maligned quarterback Rex Grossman through a media and fan revolt that certainly would have had lesser men throwing poor Rex under the bus in order to just shut people up. Loyalty is great thing.

I have no idea who will win. The pros who make a living predicting and betting such things are picking Indy, so that’s probably the safe money. If Indy wins, Dungy will heap great praise on his players, the coaches, the organization, the fans, the Bears, the officials, the cheerleaders, his family and the concession workers and parking lot people. Then his thoughts will turn to his son James who committed suicide a couple of years ago. I think it’ll be bitter sweet for him.

Which ever team wins, I’ll bet the first question from some brain dead sports reporter will be, “How does it feel to be the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl?” So while the MSM media focuses on Dungy’s and Smith’s skin color, I think they are missing a much bigger story.