What Would Tony Do

The big event of the year has passed and Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy, and the Colts have won their championship. What a fun game to watch, especially as I was rooting for the Colts. Two reasons I have been rooting for the Colts for some time now: one is as a born-and-bred UT fan I must root for the UT legend Peyton and number two is Tony Dungy.

For years, I have heard incredible stories about the type of man and the type of faith Tony Dungy has. His comments in front of a world stage over the last month and really the last year with the tragedy of his son have been amazing. Since Sunday, I have been in a couple of conversations with other folks about leadership in respect to Tony Dungy. Leadership is influence and I can’t imagine anyone who has more influence at this time in our society than Tony Dungy.

The thing that keeps running through my mind is how has Tony gained such respect, success, and influence. Much has been made about his style…doesn’t raise his voice, doesn’t curse, doesn’t tear his players apart, and so on. Which is quite unique in the sport of football with the incredible amount of intensity, pressure, and physical energy involved in the sport.

At the risk of being cheesy, I keep asking what does Tony do? What has gained him his influence, his respect, his ability to lead, impress, and through it all give glory to Christ in all things? I imagine that he is man who leads by encouragement, creates buy-in by instilling in his athletes that he cares and believes in him, has incredible work ethic and discipline, and corrects mistakes in a way that is consistent. I am inspired by his ability to lead and influence a team, entire sport, and at this moment in time an entire country for Christ.