The Death of James Dungy
Dec 22nd, 2005 by cadmus
As a parent, the unthinkable is the loss of a child. This morning after I got home from work, I was watching the repeats of Sportscenter when a Breaking News alert came on right before the the start of the next show. It’s ESPN so I’m thinking it’s about a fired coach or Reggie Bush is officially going pro or something of that nature. What caused me to focus was when he said it was “heart-breaking news” and announced that James Dungy, son of Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy, was found dead very early Thursday morning.
Here’s the AP article as reported at WaPo.com: Son of Colts’ Coach Tony Dungy Found Dead
Those that know me personally know that I love football. I’ll watch whatever game is on just to be able to watch a game. I watched the Division III games with teams I never even heard of. I don’t blog football because I don’t feel I have much to add to the conversation. I can talk the game with friends but it’s never very serious.
My team in the NFL is the Cowboys. Oddly enough, I’ve become a Steelers fan because I married into a Steelers family. I’ve also grown to like the Patriots because I have a profound respect for Bill Belichick and some of the players, such as Tedy Bruschi. And then there’s Indianapolis. (Some of you fans might say, “Um, Cadmus, except for the Cowboys, all of those are AFC teams. What’s the deal?” Well, when you’re a Cowboys fan, you hate the rest of the NFC, right?)
When I was in the Navy my “A” School, my training after boot camp, was in Indianapolis. My room in the barracks only had a clock-radio so I listened to the local stations all the time. Every Monday night, one of the stations had a Colts player on to talk about the game from the day before. Listening to the player talk about the game and the team got me interested in what the team was doing. Actually living in a city with a pro team is infectious and I caught the Colts bug.
Watching Peyton Manning play is amazing. I think he’s a great guy outside of the team and his Mastercard commercials crack me up. Watching the Colts lose on Sunday was tough.
Now, all of that was to help understand why I’m blogging about the loss of James Dungy. My heart breaks for the Dungy family. Tony Dungy is a great coach and I have a lot of respect for his activities on and off the field. This is a very sad day.
Here are some thoughts from ESPN columnists:
ESPN.com – NFL – Pasquarelli: Dungy needs even more faith
Dungy, wife need to find source of enduring strength
Admittedly more hack than wordsmith am I, so there isn’t a single syllable of this column that can adequately console the Dungy family on their loss, or even remotely make sense of the situation. Editors have a pet term, “weighing in,” on such stories. But words, even the sort of eloquent prose of which I’m rarely capable, carry little gravitas at these times.
To say nothing, though, in such cases is to essentially be as hollow as the hollow words themselves, and so some sincere effort is surely in order.
[...]
Less than a week ago, Dungy presided over a group of men poised on the cusp of football immortality. On Thursday, he was forced to identify a young man he fathered and, in so doing, to confront his own mortality. It is, to be sure, an exercise in which a parent must plumb the depths of emotion and dip deep into the reservoir of faith.
[...]
Now this most blessed of seasons has come unhinged for Dungy and his family, just three days before Christmas. And I pray, and hope you do, too, that Tony and Lauren Dungy and their four other children can find some semblance of peace and understanding.
[...]
After having seen the crippling ramifications of a child lost, from an up-close-and-personal perspective, I know there is a more pressing concern. And that’s why, at some private moment, at a quiet and contemplative time on Thursday, you would do well to maybe whisper a prayer that Tony and Lauren Dungy find the faith and the strength to just get through the next few days.
He is a great football coach. Dungy, I can assure you, is an even better man, and he should be in our thoughts.
ESPN.com – NFL – Mortensen: Heartbreaking development
When I woke up this morning, I had a lot on my plate. Now, I have no taste for any of it. Not the NFL games. Not the Pro Bowl teams. Not rumors about coaches and executives on the hot seat. Not Christmas.
All I have is a broken heart for Tony and Lauren Dungy, parents of five children. Their eldest son, James, was found dead at 18 years old in his apartment near Tampa, Fla., this morning.
[...]
Tragedies and death happen all too frequently in our lives. There’s just something about this tragedy that feels so raw and so hurtful that words cannot describe the emotions and grief. And it wasn’t even my child.
[...]
We sometimes fall short of that compassion. We simply attach a name to a team and a win-loss record. We almost never attach the hearts.
With Tony Dungy, it’s always been easy to attach the heart, which is why it is broken today.
That’s it. That’s really all I can write about for now. Instead, I’ll resume praying for this family.
I used their quotes because they said what needs to be said. I couldn’t do any better.
UPDATE: At the beginning of the 5:00 p.m. Sportscenter they reported that the sheriff’s office is now confirming that the death of James Dungy seems to be a suicide.
Even more heart-breaking.
