Tony Dungy’s First Bucs Speech & Defining His Ring Of Honor Salute
May 9th, 2018
BY IRA KAUFMAN
The spirit of Tony Dungy lives on with the Buccaneers, 16 years after his departure.
Dungy earned a bust in Canton because he boasts a historic winning percentage as an NFL head coach, then using his platform to promote diversity and fairness.
He will be enshrined in the Buccaneers Ring of Honor in Week 3 because he needed only one season to turn around a laughing-stock franchise, guiding Tampa Bay to four playoff appearances in six years.
But I’m saluting Dungy today for his work beyond the sidelines — establishing a bond between this football team and its community that remains vibrant.
“It wasn’t just playing football and winning games,” Dungy told me. “It was making the community a better place. More than anything, it was understanding that being role models was important.
“In my first speech to our guys, I said our job is to win a Super Bowl, and that’s what we’re going to do, but we’ve got to make Tampa a better place to live. If we don’t do that and we win five Super Bowls, it won’t mean anything in the long run.”
It didn’t take very long for Dungy’s message to resonate in the locker room.
Building Pillars
“Derrick Brooks came in a year later and said he wanted to do more than just give away tickets to our games,” Dungy said. “Warrick Dunn said he wanted to do more than just gain 1,000 yards and John Lynch said he wanted to create a foundation and give scholarships to students.”
All of a sudden, the Bucs were everywhere in the community. From Tarpon Springs to Temple Terrace, the organization reached out as civic ambassadors.
Feel-good stories.
“With a guy like John Lynch, there was truly no chance he shows up in the metro section of the paper unless he’s giving away money, giving away a scholarship or kissing a baby,” says former Bucs GM Rich McKay.
Among Dungy’s biggest regrets on his honor night will be the absence of his mentor, Chuck Noll, who passed away in 2014.
“The first thing coach Noll said to me when I joined the Steelers was welcome to the NFL,” Dungy said. “You’re now getting paid to play football, so that makes it your profession, but it’s not your life. I’m here to help you find your life’s work. He was saying there was more to the NFL than making money.”
That giving spirit lives on at One Buc Place, where Jameis Winston has emerged as one of the team’s most active community members.
Torch Still Burns
Donovan Smith continues to raise money for autism awareness.
Gerald McCoy has dedicated himself to making a difference in the lives of children from single-parent families. The Mike Evans Family Foundation is growing and Lavonte David has been involved with helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay.
Dungy hasn’t abandoned Tampa, returning to live here after a seven-year stint with Indianapolis, where he led the Colts to a Super Bowl victory. You can still find Dungy all over town, talking about his faith or reaching out to the less fortunate among us.
When Dungy was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2016, I asked Colts owner Jim Irsay what made Dungy special.
“He’s a man who offers the world a lot,” Irsay said. “He truly is a man of service. I think the greatest men on this Earth are those that are service to others. Tony lives in service. We’re so excited because the good guys do win.”
Ira Kaufman is the most revered sports personality and writer in town. He has hung his hat at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters since July 2016. Tampa Bay’s only Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, Ira busts out columns here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and his award winning podcasts fire Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also hear Ira on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio Wednesdays during football season, and see him now on Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on Spectrum Sports 360 (aka BayNews 9). Ira also is part of the FOX-13 Tailgate Sunday show and enjoys beet salads, Riesling, Chiefs victories and needling Joe.
May 9th, 2018 at 10:50 am
As he Deserves, Dungy arguably did more for this town than any other coach for Tampa Bay aside from establishing one of the most dominant defenses in the NFL, but a lot of people didn’t know the feel good stories behind the scenes, or didn’t pay attention to it, they wanted wins or a better offense and weren’t getting the whole impact that he actually had here in Tampa that transcended football. Dungy’s dedication to service for the community and what he required of players on and off the field set the benchmark for this Organization and what the Bucs still abide by to this day says a lot about his character. Dungy’s dedication for service is still strong and present. Congratulations Coach!!! see you tonight at bible study (which he still helps leads any moment he isn’t away doing analysis or interviews).
May 9th, 2018 at 10:52 am
both the pro football hall of fame and the bucs ring of underachievement have lost all credibility with the induction of such an unqualified and one dimensional head coach with a career losing playoff record. honors like these used to be reserved for the best of the best not mediocre feel good stories and media darlings who choked when it mattered most in the playoffs.
the legend of dungy far surpassed his actual accomplishments years ago. 4th best coach in bucs history at best and never won a damn thing that mattered as bucs head coach. one and done dungy the hall of fame player waster…. dungy wasted as many hall of famers as bad character lovie did offensive and defensive coordinators.
May 9th, 2018 at 10:52 am
Tony Dungy was and still is today a class act for the Tampa Bay area. He’s not boastful. Yet has a very assuring demeanor in the way he speaks and conducts business. Us old heads remember how we use to be the laughing stock of the NFL. Tony brought that hard hittin no compromise Defense to the Bucs. Something this team has not seen, since him. Yes, Gruden took us to the superbowl and we won. But one could argue, the foundation of that team was built mostly by Dungy. And to prove he was a good coach, he moved on and won superbowl with another team. As my pops use to say, You simply cannot..keep a good man down. Well deserved homor Mr Dungy.
May 9th, 2018 at 11:35 am
Hey, Trollmax has a new moniker. Meet: mexbucfan. Welcome to the gutter.
May 9th, 2018 at 11:38 am
Steven007 all I want for Christmas is an ignore button.
May 9th, 2018 at 11:39 am
@ Steven007-exactly, lol.
May 9th, 2018 at 11:39 am
And, on a bright note, this time he didn’t insult his family showing despite the evidence he can learn.
May 9th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
Such an underrated coach, mostly by our retarded fans. His impact wasn’t just felt in Tampa, the worst franchise in sports (which has again become the worst in sports), but on the entire NFL then, now and many years into the future. Tampa doesn’t deserve someone like Dungy in its lore, but there he is and we should be so grateful.
May 9th, 2018 at 12:16 pm
Mexbucfan, how could this make you that angry? Did ya lose a bet, does this effect your bottom line?
May 9th, 2018 at 12:29 pm
Great job pointing out how important Dungy was to this team and town,IRAH!
May 9th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
Mexbucfan takes the heat for speaking the truth… did Dungy bring us stability? Sure. What about championships? That would be a no. How many championships did he bring to Indy with all the talent they had? Just one measly Super Bowl. Sorry if it hurts the “we would rather be mediocre than bad bunch’ but all I care about is championships.
May 9th, 2018 at 12:37 pm
James Wilder !!!!!!
May 9th, 2018 at 12:51 pm
If not for Dungy the Bucs would have never become any type of contender…
May 9th, 2018 at 12:59 pm
M.b.f.g….hmmm…what about that guy John McKay….SMH…
May 9th, 2018 at 12:59 pm
There’s absolutely no way on earth that mexbucsfan isn’t Tmax
May 9th, 2018 at 1:02 pm
Buc Believer, your name should be Buc Pessimist or Buc non believer.
What Tony did on and off the field is what gets him in the ROH ….AND what he did do was turn around 2 bad franchises one after another to make them competitors almost every single year. Not to many coaches can say that, but you don’t get that. Oh and One measly Super Bowl as you say… which is more than most coaches and yourself can say. But people like you and T-mex just don’t get it.
May 9th, 2018 at 1:07 pm
bucbeliever
same can be said about manning….with all the talent and weapons he had, he couldn’t get over the hump until tony got their….tony made their defense better along with their team as a whole…..
with all the talent manning had with the broncos, setting records, breaking records he still suffered one of the worst loses in SB history…..he choked vs the saints….he almost choked vs the panthers….he had 1 int and 2 fumbles….if it wasn’t for von miller and scary cat cam he would’ve took an L in that SB too!!!!….
the pats have kept many teams from winning a SB…..and folks forget we got hosed in st. Louis….bert Emmanuel caught that damn ball…..lol…
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!!
May 9th, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Cmon guys… you could say (fill in the blank) is elected to the ring of honor and you know 1/3 of the board would hate it – because they hate all things Bucs
May 9th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
Welcome back tmaxcon
May 9th, 2018 at 1:48 pm
Dungy is a great man and IMO the greatest HC we ever had
May 9th, 2018 at 2:05 pm
The thing on dungy is HE costed the bucs 4-5 super bowl appearances with his lack of offensive approach, the bucs had the greatest show on turf beat without giving up a TD to them for 57 minutes and the bucs had shaun king at qb, if dungy would have had a better philosophical approach to offense the bucs would have been in those super bowls……that defense is bottom line an all time great and really do not get the recognition they deserve because of dungy and his lack of concern to throw the ball or get a decent qb that could do that
May 9th, 2018 at 2:41 pm
Nice Job Ira. Tony Dungy is well deserving of this honor and is as great of a human being, leader, and mentor as he is a coach.
The purpose of the negative comments must be to make us laugh because otherwise they’re as worthless as a peso at an Ed Morse Cadillac dealership.
May 9th, 2018 at 2:59 pm
@Buc believer, you think that winning only one SB isn’t accomplishing anything or isn’t accomplishing enough? If SB’s were that easy to win every coach would have one.
May 9th, 2018 at 3:01 pm
dusty
shaun king!!!…lol…you mean the same shaun king that only last 6 or 7 years in the league…..and how many of those years was he a starter?….lol….how many games did shaun king win for us?…..give me a break….
and the rams had a great defense back then too!!!!….London fletcher…kevin carter…mike jones….dre bly….
if tony cost us 4-5 SB’s, then gruden cost us 6-7….he blow up a dynasty team because of his ego…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
May 9th, 2018 at 3:02 pm
214…tighten up!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
May 9th, 2018 at 3:19 pm
AlteredEgo you are also right…
May 9th, 2018 at 3:25 pm
Dusthy, Dungy didn’t “costed” this team 4-5 SB appearances, that’s ludicrous! Our defense was very good indeed and an integral part of our SB win. But riddle me this? Why didn’t the early 2000’s Ravens teams, who had a defense on par with the Bucs, win more SB’s? Did Brian Billick costed them “4-5” SB’s as well? Dude, take some fish oil, it helps with the brain.
May 9th, 2018 at 3:39 pm
Great man, good coach. Such a brief history of winning here, he deserves the ROH.
May 9th, 2018 at 4:03 pm
@Dusthty Rhothdes … “The thing on dungy is HE costed the bucs 4-5 super bowl appearances.” YGBSM Dusthty making a statement like that. Tony Dungy is far-and-away the best HC the Bucs have had in our 42 years in existence. From 1983 thru 1995 (13 yrs) before Tony became HC the Bucs had a grand total of … you guessed it … 13 losing seasons. And we didn’t just lose every season, we lost BIG. As in our record for those 13 yrs was 58 wins & 149 losses.
Then Tony gets hired & stays for 6 yrs until he was unceremoniously fired … after posting a 9-7 record that season. He had ONE losing season … in 1996 we went 6-10. His final record for the 6 yrs? 54 wins & 42 losses.
Along comes Jon Gruden & the Bucs win the Super Bowl in 2002. Would we have won it without the defense that Tony built? I don’t think any serious Bucs fan would answer Yes to that. And oh ya, Gruden’s record for the 7 yrs he was here? 57 wins & 55 losses. Not even close to Tony’s won-loss % … despite going 12-4 in our SB year.
Tony Dungy took over a pathetic ball club (28% winning % over 13 yrs before Tony) and turned it into a winner (56% winning % over 6 yrs). Offensive genius Chucky only managed a 51% winning & over his 7 yrs … and it’s gone downhill significantly since then. So no Dusthty, Tony Dungy didn’t cost us 4-5 SBs. What he did do though was add some respectability to an otherwise pathetic franchise.
May 9th, 2018 at 4:12 pm
For those who criticize dungy let me ask you whether or not you would take the success he had in the glory years and give the same results to our current team. Is it bad we didn’t get another super bowl with the old squad? No doubt! But to say he was a failure and didn’t do good for our team and community is just asinine. I would cream my pants if we could make the playoffs that many times and come out with a super bowl over the next 8 years
May 9th, 2018 at 5:04 pm
Lolololol tmax / mexbucsfan we see you
May 9th, 2018 at 5:28 pm
Might wanna check and see if the cooler door was left open Joe!
May 9th, 2018 at 5:54 pm
Defense rules,
If we had parcells instead of gruden do you think He would have won a SB and continued to win?
Also, just a thought…do you think Gruden wanted the Bucs job?
May 9th, 2018 at 6:48 pm
mexbucfan is NOT tmax,
There were no typos and no mention of cancer93.
tmax is still in purgatory.
Might be his kid from one of his strip joint girls though.
May 9th, 2018 at 7:15 pm
Free Tmax!
Attica!
Attica!
Attica!
Attica!
May 9th, 2018 at 7:16 pm
Howard would dare say the only person happy about his suspension is McCoy
May 9th, 2018 at 7:45 pm
As far as I’m concerned, Coach Dungy won two SB’s. 😉
May 9th, 2018 at 10:28 pm
Without Dungy the stadium referendum would have never passed and the bucs would have long ago been playing in a different city.
Great man. Great coach.
Deserved much better than he got.
Most ungrateful fans in the NFL reside in Tampa.
May 10th, 2018 at 1:36 am
Probably ought to move the team to a more grateful fanbase then, right?
May 10th, 2018 at 10:32 am
Careful what you wish for Howard
London calling
May 10th, 2018 at 4:15 pm
JUst a matter of time until the brats move the Bucs.
Good thing is that Howard could really care less