4) A Deserved Honor. Speaking of Dungy, he’ll be inducted into the Colts’ Ring of Honor on Monday. Fitting that the first person to go into the ring from this era of the Colts should be Dungy, who along with quarterback Peyton Manning was the face of the franchise during the most memorable time in the Indianapolis era – the run to Super Bowl XLI and the victory over the Bears. I got a chance to speak with Dungy for a piece that will appear in the game program Monday. One of the best quotes: “It was a special time. It was kind of the perfect storm, with the right people and being able to associate with Jim Irsay and his philosophy mixing with mine – then having all of the rest of the parts, from (President) Bill Polian and the front office all the way down to the staff, it was a great meeting of so many gifted people. It all came together at the same time for really a magical seven years.” Said it before and I’ll say it again, but Dungy is a special guy whose ability as a coach was often overlooked by how likable he was as a person. Dungy was rare among NFL coaches in his accessibility to fans and media, and you rarely hear anyone say a bad word about him. Personally, I know I’ll never cover a coach quite like him. But as much as he is a good guy, he was an underrated coach. He coached Indianapolis seven seasons, won five AFC South titles, a Super Bowl title and never didn’t make the playoffs. You don’t do that if you’re not a special coach.
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