Brookfield Basics

Martin Luther King gave many impassioned speeches during his heroic battles in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. The most famous of these is known as the "I Have a Dream" speech, given in Washington DC.

Sadly, one of the least remembered lines from King's superb oratory is, "I have a dream - that one day my children will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character".

During the two-week hype-a-thon that is the fortnight between the NFL Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl, much was made about the fact that Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith were the first two African-American coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl. This certainly stands as a historic achievement. But after the avalanche of coverage and stories about this, and after it had been analyzed and evaluated from every conceivable angle, an interesting dynamic began to emerge.

Slowly but surely, the story began to turn away form the obvious fact that these two men are African-Americans, and began to focus on the fact that Dungy and Smith are men of tremendous CHARACTER. It was the quiet but steadfast strength of character possessed by these two men that inexorably drew the gaze of the cameras and the queries of the reporters away from the "race story" and on to the "character story". In particular the story focused on Dungy. This was due I think to the fact that he has been on the stage of national consciousness far longer than Smith, and also perhaps because of the tremendous outpouring of sympathy and support for him over the loss of his son just over a year ago.

So many things stand out about Dungy. Foremost is the testimony of his players, one of whom said simply, "I'd follow him to the gates of hell". As I observed him on the sidelines during the playoffs, when he finally claimed his profession's ultimate prize; I was struck by how much the SAME in victory he was as in so many seasons of heart-breaking defeat. Whether Dungy stands on the edge of triumph or disaster we know not, for we see only the same calm, intrepid spirit. We could see his refusal to give in to the relentless maw of media hype and coverage, which demands that today's coaches become "stars" right along with the players. We could see his insistence that, while wanting very badly to win, it was more important to him that his team conducted itself with dignity and class. This was the prize he sought more than the Lombardi Trophy.

A couple of days after The Colts won the Super Bowl, my son Carson and I watched an interview with Dungy. I was again struck by how much the SAME he was in victory as he was in defeat. I marveled at how grounded he remained as he stood in the eye of the triple storm of fame, victory, and wealth. I wondered if as a young man he had read Rudyard Kipling's classic poem IF, for surely Dungy has learned to treat the "two imposters of triumph and disaster just the same".

Carson is seven, and having picked up on the story of Dungy, he asked me a question. He said, "Dad, Tony Dungy is a great role model for African-Americans, isn't he"?

"No buddy" I said. "He's a great role model for all of us".