Headlines from First Thoughts

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Dungy Challenge: Hug 'em

Most people are aware that NFL coach Tony Dungy's son died of an apparent suicide. His famous father spoke at his son's funeral for 20 minutes. Here are the comments of a grieving man, speaking as a Christian, a father, a person... a challenge to all.

To his team, the Indianapolis Colts: "I want to urge you to continue being who you are because our young boys in this country, they need to hear from you. If anything, be bolder in who you are. Because our boys are getting a lot of the wrong messages about what it means to be a man in this world. About how you should act, and how you should dress, and how you should talk, and how you should treat people. They don't always get the right message, but you guys have the right messages."

On the last time he saw his son at Thanksgiving:
"I said, 'I'll see you later.' I didn't get to hug him. I knew I'd see him again pretty soon, so it didn't really bother me very much."
"We talked on the phone a lot the last few days. We're always talking about what was going to happen. The last few days he was saying -- as the guys on the team know he would -- he was saying: 'Dad, we're going to the Super Bowl, and when we do, will I be on the field?'"
"And I said: 'Yeah, man. You know the hard part is getting there, but if we do, you know you're going to be on the field.' ... But I never got to hug him again. That's one thing I'll always think about and always remind people to do: Hug 'em every chance you get."

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