Toney Dungy - 2

Tony Dungy: Christian and coach of the Super Bowl Champs. I’m impressed more and more as I hear about the man. Rick Reilly writes about him in a Sports Illustrated article “Coaching the Grief-stricken.” The following is adapted from that article.

I have this friend, Mark Lemke, an Iowa truck-driver who nominated his son, Cory, for FACES IN THE CROWD because of his golf prowess and because he had just died in a motorcycle wreck. In speaking with Mark, he wept as he told me about losing his best pal. I made up a FACES IN THE CROWD box for Cory and stuck it at the bottom of the column.

A couple of months go by and then Mark gets this call: “Mr. Lemke?” the voice says. “It’s Tony Dungy.” Now, Lemke, 51, is just an ex-jock with a simple life that a motorcycle drove a hole through. The most he hopes for when he gets off the road is his wife Maud’s sloppy joes and his favorate couch and maybe a frosty root beer and a Vikings game to take his mind off Cory for a few hours. So Naturally he figures the call is a joke.

“No, it IS Tony Dungy,” the voice says. “I’m just calling to offer my condolences to you and see if there’s anything I can do to help you.” Now you’ve got to understand, this was in October. The Colts were into the teeth of their schedule, the most critical season in Dungy’s life, not to mention Peyton Manning’s, not to mention the millions of Colts fans.

But Dungy has his own sorrow to swallow. His 18-year-od son, James, hanged himself three days before Christmas in 2005. And Lemke knew this. So maybe Dungy is a guy who can relate. They talk and the coach tells Lemke to keep in touch. Soon they’ve got a bond going. With all Dungy’s responsibilities he answers every Lemke e-mail and returns every call. They go deep sometimes. Lemke gets hot at God for taking Cory. Dungy tells him that’s normal, but he adds that if they keep their faith, “we’ll see them again.”

Next thing you know, the Colts are in the Super Bowl and Dungy is inviting a man he’s never met, a Vikings fan, no less, to be his guest there. So Lemke finds a load that needs hauling to Florida and a load that has to come back, and he drives his 18-wheel rig to Miami. The day before the game he meets Dungy in person at the team hotel. They hug. They visit. They pray. The next day Lemke takes his seat in Dolphin Stadium and watches his new buddy win it all.

Besides Lemke, there are others. The former high school coach from Wisconsin who’s son took his own life. The young kid in Indianapolis who lost his mother and brother in a car wreck Heart-broken people all over are suddenly getting a hand up from a man who himself should be a puddle but is instead a river of strength.

Coach Dungy's loss and become many people's gain.