Z’Blog

One thing you can’t ignore about Tony Dungy is his class. The man is definitely a very classy individual who appears at all times to have his ego in check and his humility on display. This was never more evident than during his emotion-filled farewell press conference where he announced his retirement from the Indianapolis Colts, the NFL and pro football altogether.

Coach Dungy will be sorely missed by the city of Indianapolis as we had him for seven years as a glorious example of winning the right way, an NFL team reaching out to the community, developing players as solid citizens and doing so with a soft-spoken intensity that made you sit up and pay attention.

It’s 7:15am on a bitter cold, wintery January morning, the Sunday before Super Bowl XLI will be won by the Colts in Miami. I am in my local grocery to pick up the NY Times and fresh baked danish rolls. The only customers besides myself are a man with a young girl who’s carefully choosing her pastry. I nod to them and recognize it’s Coach Dungy with his youngest daughter. He says, “It’s a cold morning to be out but she loves to get here early while they’re still hot.”

We walk to the checkout line together and I thank Coach Dungy for all he’s done for Indianapolis and wish him good luck in the (gasp) Super Bowl next week. He smiles and says, “Thank you for supporting our team.”

I had read where the Chicago Bears were already in Miami practicing while Coach Dungy opted to allow the team to spend the weekend at home with their families before traveling to the pre-Super Bowl circus. And here he was in a grocery store with his daughter getting pastries. Not watching film or plotting his offensive strategy for the nth time. Not in a crowded room with all his coaches making last minute play additions. No, Coach Dungy was Dad Dungy that Sunday morning. A happy man with no more important task ahead of him than pleasing his beautiful daughter.

From this time on, I held a special respect for Tony Dungy. More as a man and father, than a mere NFL Super Bowl winning coach. This was a guy who had his priorities straight. A man who walked his walk by shining example all the way to the Hall of Fame fueled by hot pastry with his daughter on a cold January morning.

I re-read my article written exactly a year ago that criticized the “Soft Indy Colts” for their less than sterling performance against the SD Chargers in the playoffs. Guess what? The same criticisms I had last year work again for this year as the Colts came up short in all the “worry areas” - terrible run defense, lousy running game and not even close to special teams coverage.

On one hand, it’s incredible that the Colts have reached the playoffs 10 straight years. Not unbelievable, considering how many teams can make the NFL playoffs every year, but incredible nonetheless.

On the other hand, the Colts have gotten past the 1st playoff game only twice in these past 10 years - which is pretty darn unthinkable when you consider the offensive talent pool they bring to the dance.

So who’s to blame? Or have we Colts fans gotten uber-spoiled by the excellent regular season record year after year?

I’m again on the bandwagon that Coach Dungy is a prime culprit in the Colt’s Atlanta Braves Fold in the Playoffs act.

It’s a fact that Tony Dungy is a soft-spoken, lead by example, good and just Christian man. But then, so was my Uncle Bobby. I can’t help but wonder if the lack of emotion Coach Dungy displays at all times is the right make-up for a NFL head coach.

Does there come a time when a team of NFL players needs a different personality type to re-evaluate the personnel, try new offensive and defensive schemes, include new players and add more fire to their efforts? I think that time has come for the Colts.

As part of the annual ritual, fans, players and the NFL all sit and await whether or not Coach Dungy will anoint the Colts with another season of leadership. But is this leadership a 100% commitment? How can a man have his family in one city, visiting them any chance he gets and profess to being totally focused on the task at hand - leading an NFL football team? This is what conflicts me about him.

On the other hand, I’m more concerned about the already-appointed next Head Coach Caldwell as nobody knows anything about him other than he did a C- job at Wake Forest and has been the most anonymous gonna be head coach in NFL history.

You never reads comments by this Coach, never hear TV announcers talk about him, no camera shots, no newspaper photos. Yet this is the guy that’s going to take over the reins when Coach Dungy finally gives in to his Christian side and leaves the game? You wonder what sort of input this new coach will have with the head office over future draft picks and other personnel moves.

With Bill Polian as official “My Way or the Highway Hard Guy”, the Colts have a history of trying to pluck roses out of the weeds of 4th, 5th…even 8th round draft choices. Polian also stays away from the free agent pool of talent. As long as they keep making the playoffs and folding after 1 game, the chance for a Top 20 draft pick would only come if they traded up. And the Colts don’t trade up or trade off.

For every Melvin Bullitt than pans out for the Colts there are dozens of other no-name draft picks who are kept on the team for no other reason than to fill holes brought on by injury. We saw the result of this philosophy early in the season - a 3/4 record. But I doubt Mr. Polian will change his strips as his penny-pinching, find a bargain ways have no doubt endeared him to Jim Irsay’s ultimate profit from the team’s success.

Now on to other Colts reflections on the past year. I’m tired of Marvin Harrison’s Mr. Silent act. While we should judge a player by his performance on the field, I can’t help but wonder if Marvin’s stoic personality has led as much to his fading numbers as previous injuries have. How sad that Marvin hasn’t created any sort of bond with the city that’s supported him for his whole career. How unfortunate that he’s chosen not to speak to any media or interact with the fans. I guess this is just the kind of person Marvin is, but like anyone else, I can only guess as nobody knows him.

I love Bob Sanders’ style of play. His is the first player jersey I ever purchased. I’ll never forget seeing him for the first time playing and shaking my head in amazement at his kamikaze Bullet Bob tackles.

This being said, I hope the Colts consider trading Bullet Bob this off-season while they can still get something of value for his talent. It’s only a matter of time before Bob’s going to crash into some rock-hard tight end and blow up his body. Nice for him to sacrifice his older years to arthritis, pain and limping. Time for him to be traded.

The sooner the Colts admit to themselves that Tony Ugoh is a bust, the better it’ll be for the future of Peyton Manning. Ugoh always appears to be a step slower than the rest of the offensive line. His mysterious on and off injuries add fuel to the rumor that he’s overwhelmed by the speed and strength of NFL defenses. Go back to the draft on this one, Mr. Polian.

Colts special teams have been and will continue to be the joke of the NFL. Talk about no talent coming and going - when will Colts management do something about this ongoing problem. The Colts allow big run backs. The Colts have nobody who can run it back. There’s a whole lot of yardage being sacrificed both ways every time there’s a kick-off.

OK, that’s it for the 2008 season. Pretty impressive that the Colts went 9-0 the end of the regular season. Pretty typical that the NFL playoff structure put them up against the most dangerous 8-8 team that never should have been in the playoffs to begin with - and make it a home game for the Chargers, too! Ah that’s NFL parity at its lowest.

Next year? I predict the Colts will fall harder at the beginning of the season and not be able to get up in time to save a playoff position. Our offensive line will continue to suffer lots of injuries, the special teams will give up more yardage and points than ever before, Marvin Harrison will come back and score 3 TDs with his new NFL team, the Colts will take back the Edge from the Cardinals for $2,000, Bob Sanders will literally fall apart on a Mach II safety blitz, new Coach Caldwell will continually be ignored by NFL refs who don’t know who he is, Tony Dungy will announce his national evangelical crusade tour - sponsored by Nike and Gatorade and the Lucas Oil stadium roof will get stuck while open during a torrential thunderstorm.

Other than this, the Colts will do just fine in 2009.