BroncoMike
02-08-2007, 03:06 PM
Pretty good speech!!!
Below is a very touching story about Tony Dungy, Coach of the Colts, and the essence of his purpose in life.
It was most amusing to hear Coach Dungy's responses to the TV sports interviewer, when he was asked how great it was to be one of the first "African-American" head coaches to take his team to a Super Bowl? Head Coach "Tony Dungy" responded immediately with: "Yes that's good, but what is really great and awesome, is how God worked this out for us; it's just amazing how He made this all come together!"
Thus, (as Paul Harvey would say after reading the following) "and now, you know the rest of the story."
Dungy Makes Super Bowl Stop to Speak at Athletes in Action Breakfast
DETROIT, Mich. - They were there for breakfast, and they were there to
cheer New York Jets running back Curtis Martin. And it was Martin who
received the Athletes in Action Bart Starr Award Saturday morning, but
the hundreds who gathered in fourth-floor ballroom at the Marriott
Renaissance in Detroit, Mich., on the morning before Super Bowl XL
were clearly touched by the featured speaker.
That speaker was Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy.
Two hours into the breakfast, emcee Brent Jones introduced Dungy, who was
welcomed with a lengthy standing ovation. Dungy thanked the crowd, shared
an anecdote about Martin, then told the crowd he was going to speak for
about 15 minutes.
"It's great to be here," Dungy told the crowd, then adding with a laugh,
"I just wish I wasn't here in this capacity so many times of being just
that close to being in the game and just being an invited speaker.
"My goal is to have our team here one day and have a couple of tables
with all of our guys here. Because we have a special group of young men, a
great group of Christian guys. It'd be wonderful to have them here so you
could see their hearts and what they're all about.
"It hasn't quite happened yet, but we're still hoping one day it will."
He told them he was going to talk about lessons he had learned from his
three sons. The crowd fell silent. Then Dungy spoke.
And although this was a breakfast - and although at many such events
speake rs speak over the clinking of glasses and murmurs from
semi-interested listeners - for most of the 15 minutes the room was
silent except for Dungy's voice.
He spoke of his middle son, Eric, who he said shares his
competitiveness and who is focused on sports "to where it's almost a
problem."
He spoke of his youngest son, Jordan, who has a rare congenital
condition, which causes him not to feel pain.
"He feels things, but he doesn't get the sensation of pain," Dungy said.
The lessons learned from Jordan, Tony Dungy said, are many.
"That sounds like it's good at the beginning, but I promise you it's
not," Dungy said. "We've learned a lot about pain n in the last five years we've
had Jordan. We've learned some hurts are really necessary for kids. Pain
is necessary for kids to find out the difference between what's good and
what's harmful."
Jordan, Dungy said, loves cookies.
"Cookies are good," Dungy said, "but in Jordan's mind, if they're good
o ut on the plate, they're even better in the oven. He will go right in the
oven when my wife's not looking, reach in, take the rack out, take the
pan out, burn his hands and eat the cookies and burn his tongue and never
feel it. He doesn't know that's bad for him."
Jordan, Dungy said, "has no fear of anything, so we constantly have to
watch him."
The lesson learned, Dungy said, is simple.
"You get the question all the time, 'Why does the Lord allow pain in your
life? Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is a God of love,
why does he allow these hurtful things to happen?''' Dungy said.
"We've learned that a lot of times because of that pain, that little
temporary pain, you learn what's harmful. You learn to fear the right
things.
"Pain sometimes lets us know we have a condition that needs to be healed.
Pain inside sometimes lets us know that spiritually we're not quite right
and we need to be healed and that God will send that healing agent right
to the spot.
"Sometimes, pain is the only way that will turn us as kids back to the
Father."
Finally, he spoke of James.
James Dungy, Tony Dungy's oldest son, died three days before Christmas.
As he did while delivering James' eulogy in December, Dungy on Saturday
spoke of him eloquently and steadily , speaking of lessons learned and of the
positives taken from experience.
"It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as painful as it was,
there were some good things that came out of it," Dungy said.
Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging James the last time
he saw him, on Thanksgiving of last year. "I met a guy the next day after
the funeral," Dungy said. "He said, 'I was there. I heard you talking. I
took off work today. I called my son. I told him I was taking him to the
movie s. We're going to spend some time and go to dinner.' That was a
; real, real blessing to me."
Dungy said he has gotten many letters since James' death relaying similar
messages.
"People heard what I said and said, 'Hey, you brought me a little closer
to my son,' or, 'You brought me a little closer to my daughter,''' Dungy
said. "That is a tremendous blessing."
Dungy also said some of James' organs were donated through donors
programs.
"We got a le tter back two weeks ago that two people had received his
corneas, and now they can see,'' Dungy said. "That's been a tremendous
blessing."
Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl from the family's church
in Tampa. She had known James for many years, Dungy said. She went to the
funeral because she knew James.
"When I saw what happened at funeral, and your family and the celebration
and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there had to
be a God," Dungy said the girl wrote. "I accepted Christ into my life and my
life's been different since that day."
Added Dungy, "That was an awesome blessing, so all of those things kind
of made me realize what God's love is all about."
Dungy also said he was asked often how he was able to return to the Colts
so quickly after James' death. James died on December 22, and Dungy
returned to the team one week later. Dungy said the answer was simple.
"People asked me, 'How did you recover so quickly?"'' Dungy said. "I'm
not totally recovered. I don't know that I ever will be. It's still very,
very painful, but I was able to come back because of something one of my good
Christian friends said to me after the funeral.
"He said, 'You know James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know
he?s in heaven, right?' I said, 'Right, I know that.' He said, 'So, with all
you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back now, would
you?' When I thought about it, I said, 'No, I wouldn't. I would not want
him back with what I know about heaven.'
"That's what helped me through the grieving process. Because of Christ's
spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there, at peace with
the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that's very,
very painful.
"That's my prayer today, that everyone in this room would know the same
thing."
Below is a very touching story about Tony Dungy, Coach of the Colts, and the essence of his purpose in life.
It was most amusing to hear Coach Dungy's responses to the TV sports interviewer, when he was asked how great it was to be one of the first "African-American" head coaches to take his team to a Super Bowl? Head Coach "Tony Dungy" responded immediately with: "Yes that's good, but what is really great and awesome, is how God worked this out for us; it's just amazing how He made this all come together!"
Thus, (as Paul Harvey would say after reading the following) "and now, you know the rest of the story."
Dungy Makes Super Bowl Stop to Speak at Athletes in Action Breakfast
DETROIT, Mich. - They were there for breakfast, and they were there to
cheer New York Jets running back Curtis Martin. And it was Martin who
received the Athletes in Action Bart Starr Award Saturday morning, but
the hundreds who gathered in fourth-floor ballroom at the Marriott
Renaissance in Detroit, Mich., on the morning before Super Bowl XL
were clearly touched by the featured speaker.
That speaker was Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy.
Two hours into the breakfast, emcee Brent Jones introduced Dungy, who was
welcomed with a lengthy standing ovation. Dungy thanked the crowd, shared
an anecdote about Martin, then told the crowd he was going to speak for
about 15 minutes.
"It's great to be here," Dungy told the crowd, then adding with a laugh,
"I just wish I wasn't here in this capacity so many times of being just
that close to being in the game and just being an invited speaker.
"My goal is to have our team here one day and have a couple of tables
with all of our guys here. Because we have a special group of young men, a
great group of Christian guys. It'd be wonderful to have them here so you
could see their hearts and what they're all about.
"It hasn't quite happened yet, but we're still hoping one day it will."
He told them he was going to talk about lessons he had learned from his
three sons. The crowd fell silent. Then Dungy spoke.
And although this was a breakfast - and although at many such events
speake rs speak over the clinking of glasses and murmurs from
semi-interested listeners - for most of the 15 minutes the room was
silent except for Dungy's voice.
He spoke of his middle son, Eric, who he said shares his
competitiveness and who is focused on sports "to where it's almost a
problem."
He spoke of his youngest son, Jordan, who has a rare congenital
condition, which causes him not to feel pain.
"He feels things, but he doesn't get the sensation of pain," Dungy said.
The lessons learned from Jordan, Tony Dungy said, are many.
"That sounds like it's good at the beginning, but I promise you it's
not," Dungy said. "We've learned a lot about pain n in the last five years we've
had Jordan. We've learned some hurts are really necessary for kids. Pain
is necessary for kids to find out the difference between what's good and
what's harmful."
Jordan, Dungy said, loves cookies.
"Cookies are good," Dungy said, "but in Jordan's mind, if they're good
o ut on the plate, they're even better in the oven. He will go right in the
oven when my wife's not looking, reach in, take the rack out, take the
pan out, burn his hands and eat the cookies and burn his tongue and never
feel it. He doesn't know that's bad for him."
Jordan, Dungy said, "has no fear of anything, so we constantly have to
watch him."
The lesson learned, Dungy said, is simple.
"You get the question all the time, 'Why does the Lord allow pain in your
life? Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is a God of love,
why does he allow these hurtful things to happen?''' Dungy said.
"We've learned that a lot of times because of that pain, that little
temporary pain, you learn what's harmful. You learn to fear the right
things.
"Pain sometimes lets us know we have a condition that needs to be healed.
Pain inside sometimes lets us know that spiritually we're not quite right
and we need to be healed and that God will send that healing agent right
to the spot.
"Sometimes, pain is the only way that will turn us as kids back to the
Father."
Finally, he spoke of James.
James Dungy, Tony Dungy's oldest son, died three days before Christmas.
As he did while delivering James' eulogy in December, Dungy on Saturday
spoke of him eloquently and steadily , speaking of lessons learned and of the
positives taken from experience.
"It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as painful as it was,
there were some good things that came out of it," Dungy said.
Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging James the last time
he saw him, on Thanksgiving of last year. "I met a guy the next day after
the funeral," Dungy said. "He said, 'I was there. I heard you talking. I
took off work today. I called my son. I told him I was taking him to the
movie s. We're going to spend some time and go to dinner.' That was a
; real, real blessing to me."
Dungy said he has gotten many letters since James' death relaying similar
messages.
"People heard what I said and said, 'Hey, you brought me a little closer
to my son,' or, 'You brought me a little closer to my daughter,''' Dungy
said. "That is a tremendous blessing."
Dungy also said some of James' organs were donated through donors
programs.
"We got a le tter back two weeks ago that two people had received his
corneas, and now they can see,'' Dungy said. "That's been a tremendous
blessing."
Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl from the family's church
in Tampa. She had known James for many years, Dungy said. She went to the
funeral because she knew James.
"When I saw what happened at funeral, and your family and the celebration
and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there had to
be a God," Dungy said the girl wrote. "I accepted Christ into my life and my
life's been different since that day."
Added Dungy, "That was an awesome blessing, so all of those things kind
of made me realize what God's love is all about."
Dungy also said he was asked often how he was able to return to the Colts
so quickly after James' death. James died on December 22, and Dungy
returned to the team one week later. Dungy said the answer was simple.
"People asked me, 'How did you recover so quickly?"'' Dungy said. "I'm
not totally recovered. I don't know that I ever will be. It's still very,
very painful, but I was able to come back because of something one of my good
Christian friends said to me after the funeral.
"He said, 'You know James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know
he?s in heaven, right?' I said, 'Right, I know that.' He said, 'So, with all
you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back now, would
you?' When I thought about it, I said, 'No, I wouldn't. I would not want
him back with what I know about heaven.'
"That's what helped me through the grieving process. Because of Christ's
spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there, at peace with
the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that's very,
very painful.
"That's my prayer today, that everyone in this room would know the same
thing."