Outside the Lines investigates Tony Dungy. I know he’s not gone, but I still miss him.
Yet he connects to what could be described as the antithesis of power — young African-American men, many at-risk, many in professional sports. He is rooted in the church, and thus, so are his politics. Consistent with his Christianity, he has publicly supported marriage as being defined only as a bond between a man and a woman, but he has contributed to the Indiana Democratic Party. His success and standing have created immense financial opportunities. He is in position, connected and popular, to become both an insider and a brand. As of yet, Dungy has largely shunned the endorsement route of some of his peers, appearing only in a Motorola advertisement when he was coaching.
“No one had replaced Arthur since he died,” Harry Edwards says. “Tony did that. What made Dr. [Martin Luther] King so effective wasn’t the sincerity and authenticity of his positions but that there was a genuine counterperspective where people said, ‘Hey, this guy makes more sense.’
“I played that role for a lot of years. When the applecart needed turning over, I turned it over. Tony sorts through the apples, tosses the bad ones, polishes the good ones. Someone has to play that role.”
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