After winning the Super Bowl, Tony Dungy stated that being a Christian coach was as important or more so than being the first black coach to win the Super Bowl. (Both he and Lovie Smith). And I thought, that either means one of three things:
(1) He's glad both he and Lovie Smith were Christian by birth, i.e., born to Christian parents, and haven't converted to another faith.
(2) He's glad not only two black coaches made it this year, but two ethical and moral ones, i.e., those that have Christian values like caring about the poor and turning the other cheek.
(3) He's glad someone who literally believes Jesus Christ is the messiah and will return again at the end of the world competed in and won the Super Bowl.
(1) is blatantly bigoted, as it implies he'd be disappointed if a Jew or Muslim coach won.
(2) is benign enough, but if that's all he means, why use the word "Christian"? Why not just say: "I'm glad to be paired not only with another black coach, but also a great guy."
(3) strikes me as bizarre. Even if Dungy believes in that literally (and I have no idea if he does), why should Lovie Smith's beliefs about the end of the world impact Dungy's feelings about him as a Super Bowl opponent?
So even though I think (2) is mostly how he meant it, I think there has to be an element of (1) or (3) in what he said - otherwise, why use the word "Christian?"
Now, I don't care if Dungy said something politically incorrect, and I don't think he should be punished for it, or anything drastic like that. I'm just wondering what he meant by it, or whether he just has a screw loose.
Posted by Chris Liss at 2/22/2007 5:46:00 PM
