Colts: Breaking Barriers

If you are even a casual fan of the Indy Colts, then you likely know about the personal faith and tremendous character of Coach Tony Dungy. Indy Star columnist Bob Kravitz has an article today (1/23) that puts an exclamation point on it. He writes:

Two Significant Barriers Were Broken on Sunday.

One, there's the barrier you know about, the one you're going to hear plenty about in these next two weeks, the racial barrier and the fact that this Super Bowl will not only feature the first black coach to lead his team to the big game, but two black coaches, the Colts' Tony Dungy and the Bears' Lovie Smith.

But there is another barrier that's being broken, less socially significant but still, enormously important in its own way.

The two men who will coach in Super Bowl XLI are both devout, quiet, self-contained head coaches who break the mold in a league that has long featured profane, myopic workaholics who proudly proclaim they have no life outside of football and demand the same warped accountability from their players.

"Even more important to me (than the breaking down of the racial barrier) is I know the type of person Lovie is, that he has the same Christian convictions in the way he runs his team,'' Dungy said after a long Sunday night that ended around 4 a.m. at Palomino's. "I know how those guys are treated in Chicago, how they play tough, disciplined football even though there's not a lot of profanity from the coaches, not a lot of the win-at-all-costs atmosphere. And for two guys (Dungy and Smith) to show you can win that way, I think that's just as important for the country to see.''

Full article is at the Indy Star website.

This is one of those articles that you clip and share with your kids. It is outstanding to see two men of such great character get to the Super Bowl!