Itıll be
Supersoul Bowl XLI in Miami
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota
Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 01/31/2007
Miami, Florida You
might say the NFL owes Tony Dungy big time. Who can ever
forget the 1999 NFC Championship game in St. Louis, when
the Rams beat Tampa Bay and Dungy 11-6 in the NFC title
game?
The game was a tough, hard-fought battle. It was not
without controversy, however; a diving pass reception by
Tampaıs Bert Emanuel in the fourth quarter that would
have given the Buccaneers a key first down inside the Rams
20-yard line was taken away when instant replay overruled
a would-be catch, saying that the ball touched the turf.
The play was so controversial that the NFL changed the
possession rule the next year based on that play.
Dungy was hired as Tampaıs head coach in 1996. He was the
fourth choice, however, behind Bill Parcells, Jimmy
Johnson and Steve Spurrier. After they all turned it down,
the Buccaneers turned to Dungy.
Dungy built the Buccaneers into an NFC power after years
of losing and missing the playoffs. Then he was abruptly
fired after a tough playoff loss in 2001 and six great
years in Tampa. The year after he was fired, Dungy watched
the team he built from ashes, the Buccaneers, go on to win
Super Bowl XXXVII.
Dungy can be considered the first Black head coach to get
a really good job when he was hired in Indianapolis by a
team that was already in position to make a playoff run.
After all, Peyton Manning is his quarterback. You see,
every Black head coach who has ever been hired in the NFL
has taken over a losing program that was either way down
and did not appeal to the top coaching candidates or was
grossly mismanaged.
The Vikings had missed the playoffs two years in a row
when Dennis Green arrived in Minnesota in 1992 as the new
sheriff in town. The Buccaneers were a laughing stock when
Dungy arrived in Tampa. The same holds for Ray Rhodes in
Philadelphia and later in Green Bay.
Thereıs Marvin Lewis at Cincinnati
the Bengals were real bad until he got there; Herman
Edwards at New York (Jets), now with Kansas City; Romeo
Crennel with Cleveland
the Browns have been down a long time; Green in Arizona
with the losing culture of the Cardinals; Art Shell in
Oakland the Raiders
are no longer excellent; and Lovie Smith in Chicago.
When Smith arrived there two years ago, the Bears had
missed the playoffs two years in a row. He has coached all
year with the worst contract in the NFL among 32 head
coaches. His contract is so bad
he makes $1.3 million a year, which is what Dave Wannstedt
made his last year when he was in Chicago two coaches ago.
Only Black head coaches get treated that way. Thatıs a
fact.
In the shadow of Dungy and Smith leading their teams to
the Super Bowl was the hiring of young Mike Tomlin, former
Vikings defensive coordinator, now the head coach
succeeding Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh. Dan Rooney is the
owner/ president of the Steelers. The Rooney Rule that
carries his name was adopted by NFL Commissioner Paul
Tagliabue in 2002. It mandates
yes, forces NFL teams
to interview at least one Black candidate for head
coaching vacancies.
So, the first Black candidate ever interviewed by the
Steelers in their history, winners of five Super Bowls, is
Mike Tomlin, and he gets the job.
That speaks volumes in many ways, because Pittsburgh is a
great organization and that is a prime-time job. And
Tomlin has never been a head coach before.
Dungy has taken the Colts to new heights. With a current
114-62 regular season record, Dungy started the 2006
season with the second-best winning percentage among
active NFL coaches. He has taken his last eight teams to
the playoffs in consecutive years, second-best all-time to
Tom Landryıs nine straight with Dallas. Last year the
Colts started 13-0; then the horrible tragedy, the suicide
death of Dungyıs 18-year-old son.
Dungy said, ³You canıt make the feeling go away, thereıs
no Novocain or anything that can just take it away. You
begin to realize that you can still move forward.² That
is what Dungy did after a tough 21-18 playoff loss to
eventual Super-Bowl champion Pittsburgh. The Colts loaded
up again, starting the 2006 season 9-0 and becoming the
first team in NFL history to achieve that feat in
back-to-back years.
Some of the 3,000 media covering this Super Bowl will get
sick of talking and reporting about the significance of
two Black head coaches that will dominate this game,
because for some, human nature will take over. They are
out of their comfort zones. But the Super Bowl has become
the biggest day in sports, almost as if itıs a national
holiday.
People are tuning in because itıs an event, Americaıs
party holiday, and by definition that means it appeals to
the biggest demographic possible. Itıs about commerce as
much as itıs about a game thatıs at the intersection of
sports and corporate culture. Itıs the game that everyone
watches even if they donıt know a blitz from a fly
pattern.
This Super Bowl will be one of the hardest fought games
ever. Thatıs what happens when Black coaches go
head-to-head their
players play so hard. Can you remember the Monday night
game on October16 this year, when the Arizona Cardinals
blew a 20-0 halftime lead to the Chicago Bears?
The Bears won it 24-23 without scoring an offensive
touchdown. Would the Bears be in the Super Bowl if they
had lost that game? Green would likely still be the head
coach in Arizona had the Cardinals won that night. ³Crown
their ass² Green said, referring to the unbeaten Bears,
after exploding in a now-famous post-game interview.
This Super Bowl is in some ways Minnesotaıs chance to win
one. Dungy was a star quarterback for and graduate of
Minnesota, a former Gophers assistant coach and a former
defensive coordinator of the Vikings under Green. Of
course, Prince will highlight the Super Bowl halftime
show.
Being from Chicago, my heart leans to the Windy City. The
Bears are a great team. But the Colts are playoff
hardened; they also have more future Hall-of-Fame players
with Manning, Marvin Harrison, and kicker Adam Vinatieri.
I might be the only journalist who predicted that two
Black coaches would reach the Super Bowl in the preseason
(NFL Preview 2006, 9/2006). I said it would be Arizona vs.
Indianapolis, since Smith and the Bears beat the Cardinals
on that Monday night. I guess I did not miss by much.
Iım sticking with Indianapolis: Colts 27-Bears 20.
