I don’t know if you caught Tony Dungy’s post game interview with Sal Paolantonio on ESPN Sunday night (it’s still available for viewing over at ESPN motion), but I did and I was pretty stunned to hear what Tony had to say. Quoting exactly what Dungy told Sal,
I’m happy for Peyton – people that don’t know how great a player he is they don’t know much about football. I don’t think he needed this to validate himself. We heard all the things about us being a dome team about us not being physical. That was a great team we played we played in their elements and we won the ballgame. We said last night in our meeting, everyone’s talking about our offense against their defense. Our defense can win the ballgame and they believed that.
Dungy may have delivered his comments in a soft tone and polite manner, but there is no debate that those were daggers directed at the media. Think about what he said.
First, Dungy attacked the critics who said Peyton Manning needed to win “the Big One” to validate his career (which I believe is true). Then, he attacked the critics who said they couldn’t win outdoors. Third, Dungy attacked the critics who said they were soft. Lastly, he attacked the critics who said the Colts had a vulnerable defense (they were 32nd in the league defending the run).
photo courtesy Everything Michigan
Coaches may pretend that they don’t pay attention to the media, but those comments affirm that Dungy does. Think Tony Dungy wasn’t happy to get the last laugh? Think again.
