A Black head coach  will win the  2007 Super Bowl!

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 01/25/2007

It has taken 87 years of evolution and overcoming bias, racism, discrimination and ignorance, but time has a way of healing all wounds one day, one game, and one year at a time.

 

Back in 1921, Fritz Pollard was a pioneer — he was the first Black NFL coach from 1921 to 1925. Back then, he was often not allowed to run the game on the sidelines. He had to send in plays through his captain.  

 

There would not be another Black head coach until Art Shell with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1989. February is Black History Month, and on Super Sunday, February 4, two great coaches and friends, Tony Dungy for Indianapolis and Lovie Smith for Chicago , will battle each other mentally on the world’s greatest stage for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLI. Thank goodness for the Rooney Rule, or it might never have happened.

 

Pardon me for soaking up this moment in time and reflecting, but when I first started covering Super Bowls, it was Super Bowl XV in New Orleans , Oakland vs. Philadelphia . I wondered then if this would ever happen.

 

The first time two Black coaches ever matched up against each other in NFL history was on Sunday, September 5, 1993, in Los Angeles at the Coliseum before 44,120 fans, Art Shell vs. Dennis Green, Raiders 24, Vikings 7. Green got the Vikings job as head coach in 1992. He was the third Black head coach in NFL history, and Tony Dungy was Green’s defensive coordinator; in fact, that season Dungy’s defense was rated number one in the NFL.

 

 I remember it like it was yesterday because I was there. In fact, on Thursday that week I had the greatest setback of my broadcast career — I had just been fired by KFAN. Green at the time also worked for KFAN, the Vikings’ flagship, but after the ’93 season he stopped.

 

The following year, Green agreed to allow me to host, produce and distribute his weekly radio shows over the National Programming Network and locally on Solid Gold Soul AM 950 and KMOJ-89.9 FM. We worked together for the next eight years.

 

Dungy, a graduate of the University of Minnesota , was hired by Tampa Bay as head coach in 1996 after four years with Green.

 

So a Black man will win the Super Bowl — yes, take it to the bank, it’s guaranteed. Since 1978 when I first started my journalism career as a man born and raised in the city of Chicago , I have believed it’s important to tell the whole truth and nothing but. Doing that gets you in trouble sometimes, because telling the truth makes some people very uncomfortable. Back then, there were organizations that never considered hiring Black assistant coaches, much less Black head coaches.

 

That includes organizations like the Minnesota Vikings. Bud Grant is in the Hall of Fame, and he never had one Black assistant in all those years as Vikings head coach. It speaks volumes, because Mike Tomlin last year was the Vikings defensive coordinator under Brad Childress, and he was hired as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers this week.

 

Tomlin was hired by Dungy as an assistant in Tampa Bay before coming to Minnesota . You see how this deal works now?

 

You may have noticed that I have not said African American until now. There is a reason for that, and it can be confusing, so open up your minds. After all, we have evolved from Negro to colored to Black and now African Americans. As a small child in Chicago , my mother would say to me, “You’re my pretty Black baby.” I have been Black ever since.

 

You and I also know that we were brought over on slave ships from Africa to North America . We should consider no longer using the term African American and just say “Black.” A White person who was born in Africa and moves to America is an “African American” and qualifies for financial aid, etc., but will get the job and pay privileges afforded to Whites.

 

On January 6, the Colts beat Kansas City 23-8 in a wild card playoff game. Lovie Smith of the Bears was in the stands watching his friends Dungy and Herman Edwards of Kansas City . That kind of support and loyalty is what it takes for us to survive and grow. This year, three of the seven NFL Black head coaches guided their teams to the playoffs. And two have reached the Super Bowl.

 

Dungy can join Hall-of-Famers Mike Ditka and Tom Flores as only the third person to win a Super Bowl as a player and a head coach. Smith has guided the Bears to wins in 25 of the last 31 games. The Bears are 5-1 vs. playoff teams entering the Super Bowl 15-3. The Colts are 15-4 and are 7-1 vs. playoff teams.

 

Remember, the Colts started 9-0 and the Bears started 7-0. This is no fluke.