I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Super Bowl this year. It was a great game, and the Indianapolis Colts did great job in earning a well deserved victory. But I also found the post-game presentation very exciting as well. I hope that you didn’t miss it!

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy is a class act. When his team won the playoffs he said that he “wanted to give all the glory to the Lord.” (You can see the video here) Today at the presentation of the Lombardi Trophy after the Super Bowl he again publicly identified himself as a Christian. After saying that he was proud of his players, he said “There’s always going to be a storm… sometimes the Lord doesn’t bring you directly through, you’ve got to work for it.” When the commentator asked him about the social significance of his victory he said:

“I’m proud to be representing African-American coaches… to be the first African-American to win this…
But again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only the first two African-Americans, but Christian coaches, showing that you can win doing it the Lord’s way, we’re more proud of that.”

Right after that the reporter prompted him to hand the trophy off to Peyton Manning.

I’m impressed that he has the boldness to clearly share his faith on one of the most watched sporting events in the world. It’s clear that he identifies himself first and foremost as a Christian, and that everything else is secondary.

Searching on line, I found this speech by Dungy in which he talks about his faith:

The commentator mentioned that Coach Dungy never yells at his players and never swears. Instead he serves as a teacher and mentor to his players and earns their respect.

Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith is also a Christian:

Finally, is an interview with Lovie Smith after the game in which he talks about his long term friendship with Tony Dungy:

Praise God for these two Christian coaches and their testimony! You can read more about these two men as well as other Christian athletes at beyondtheultimate.org.

Update: The video of the awards ceremony is now on YouTube. You can see it here:

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5 Comments

  1. I missed the superbowl – tried taping it and forgot I don’t get CBS. However, I think it’s a great testimony and I’m glad that these two men (and I’m sure other professional athletes) are willing to make a public stand on national television about the importance of their faith in Christ to their success.

  2. tony dungy has a new book coming out in early august called the mentor leader on tyndal publishing there is a nice write up about it on http://www.amazon.com you can already pre order the book. tony dungys other books are quiet strength uncommon you can do it and 2 dvds please vist his web site http://www.coachdungy.com great gift idea for a friend or family member

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