2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” What if you were judged by the color of your skin? What if it seemed like you were just receiving blow after blow? For Tony Dungy this made life harder. Yet, he didn’t let it faze him. He knew God made him special even if he did not have natural God-given abilities. He knew he had to work harder and play even harder to become uncommon. This is the story of his journey; where Tony Dungy learned what life was all about. Not about football, no matter how great the game is, life is about God and His glory.Dungy grew up in a Christian home in Jackson, Michigan. His mom, CleoMae Dungy, taught English and Public Speaking at Jackson High School. Wilbur Dungy was a professor of physiology at Jackson Community College. Tony’s dad taught him not to let external issues be a problem and always to control your attitude towards your circumstance. His parents also taught him about God at a very early age. He accepted Christ as his Savior at the young age of five. However, it wasn’t until years later when Tony learned what it meant to make Christ number one in his life.
In 1978, while playing for the Pittsburg Steelers, Dungy contracted Mononucleosis. He was naturally shy and never had a serious girlfriend. So this came as a bit of a surprise to him. After three weeks, his white blood cell count was still too high and he was getting really frustrated and even difficult to be around. Late one night, Dungy was talking to another player for the Steelers, Donnie Shell. Tony was very upset about being out for so long and not being able to play. Donnie explain that even though Tony claimed to be a Christian, he started showing what was really first place in his life when his football career started going sour. He then started understanding what it really meant to be a Christian. For the very first time he looked at football as a gift from God instead of something that makes him. Tony’s purpose in life is to glorify God.He faced a lot more than having Mono in 1978, that was just his starting point of harder things to come. The next thing that happened was losing his job as head coach for the Buccaneers in 2002 just a couple days after the death of his beloved mother and losing his father in 2004. Yet, the hardest blow of all those was at 1:45 in the morning on December 22, when the Dungy’s received a phone call that there son, Jamie, had taken his life. They have no explanations to why he choose this, but they know Jamie is in Heaven with his heavenly Father. At their son’s funeral service, the family had “I Will Bless The Lord At All Times” played. Tony wanted people to remember that even in the sad and difficult times God can offer joy in the midst of a gloomy occasion.
Three principles I have learned from the life of Tony Dungy is actually some points he found in of the book of Nehemiah. 1) Nehemiah’s opportunity came in God’s time, not his own. 2) Nehemiah diligently prepared his mind and his heart so he would be ready when God’s time arrived. 3) Nehemiah needed to be prepared to take on the problems, doubt, and adversity that would come his way both from the outside and from within (Dungy, 87). If God is not the center of my life, then I will fail at everything because I would be relying on my strength thinking I can do it by myself. I need to trust God with His timing and not my own. If I don’t prepare myself for the task my Savior assigns me then I would not be serving Him to my absolute best. I, Rebecca Bishop, pray that I can look at life the way Tony Dungy does. That even in the midst of a trial that I will seek God, put Him first in my life, and when I get to Heaven I will have no excuses for my time on earth.
