JimNasium
01-05-2007, 04:01 PM
Link (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/05/sports/football/06colts.html?ei=5094&en=8efdfe6cc94e6558&hp=&ex=1168059600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print)
Hopefully not a repost. There's nothing really new in this one but I found it interesting all the same. I didn't realize they were this close.
January 5, 2007
Playoff Rivalry Puts Longtime Friendship on Hold
By CLIFTON BROWN
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 5 — The longtime friendship between Tony Dungy and Herman Edwards was severely tested in 1996.
Edwards was a scout then with the Kansas City Chiefs, and his goal was to become a general manager, not a coach. But after Dungy became the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he persuaded Edwards to join his staff as an assistant head coach in charge of defensive backs.
Initially, Edwards said, he feared he had made a terrible career move. In the 1996 regular-season opener between Tampa and Green Bay, Brett Favre threw four touchdown passes as the Packers embarrassed the Buccaneers, 34-3.
“In the first half, I walked down by Tony and I asked him, ‘Why did you do this to me?’ ” ‘ Edwards recalled this week. “I had a great job in Kansas City.”
Dungy laughed at the memory. “We were all worried about our careers at halftime, “Dungy said Thursday.
Their careers survived, and so did their friendship. On Saturday afternoon, Dungy will coach the Indianapolis Colts against Edwards and his Chiefs in the opening round of the American Football Conference playoffs. Unlike the relationship between New England Coach Bill Belichick and Jets Coach Eric Mangini, which became frosty once Mangini left the Patriots’ staff, Edwards and Dungy say they have not let competition harm their relationship.
For three decades, Dungy, 51, and Edwards 52, have been there for each other, at weddings, at funerals, on vacations and on the telephone. But for 60 minutes Saturday, they will be adversaries, an awkward situation for both.
“It’s difficult in the sense that the outcome is obviously not good for one of us,” Edwards said during a conference call Wednesday. “You worked this hard to get here, then all of a sudden you have to play your best friend. That’s the difficult part. Whoever wins it, we’re going to be pulling for that guy until he gets to the Super Bowl and wins it. That’s how we’ve always felt.”
Their relationship began in an odd way at the 1977 Japan Bowl, a collegiate all-star game. Dungy was a quarterback with the University of Minnesota, and Edwards was a defensive back with San Diego State. Edwards intercepted Dungy’s last pass of the game, and from that on-field encounter, a friendship clicked.
Though they share similar coaching philosophies, their personalities differ. Dungy’s demeanor rarely changes during a game, whether the Colts are 20 points ahead or 20 points behind.
“I’m a lot better at holding thoughts inside than I was when I was younger,” he said. “It’s something I do consciously. No. 1, I’m trying to think ahead to the next situation. No. 2, I’m trying to show my team that I’m in control and that I’m poised out there, even when I’m not.”
That reserved nature did not rub off on Edwards, who can become emotional even during routine news conferences.
“When we were at Tampa, guys used to say, ‘Tony won’t say it, but Herm will,’ ” Edwards said.
This will be the second time Dungy and Edwards have coached against each other in the playoffs. The first was at the end of the 2002 season, when the Jets, coached by Edwards, dominated the Colts, 41-0, at Giants Stadium. It is a day Dungy would like to forget.
“We owe him one,” he said.
That was the first meeting between two African-American head coaches in the National Football League playoffs. Seven of the league’s 32 teams were coached by African-Americans this season, though two lost their jobs this week: Dennis Green in Arizona and Art Shell in Oakland. No African-American head coach has ever reached the Super Bowl, but Dungy and Edwards hope to change that this season.
Edwards spent five years as Dungy’s assistant in Tampa, before becoming the Jets’ head coach in 2001. He spent five seasons as the Jets’ coach before leaving after last season to coach the Chiefs. He says he feels for Dungy, who is making his eighth consecutive playoff appearance but who has yet to reach the league’s ultimate game. Each season, the pressure increases.
“There are a lot of great players, a lot of great coaches, that maybe never coach in a Super Bowl game,” Edwards said.
He mentioned the time it took Bill Cowher to win one with the Steelers and how long Marty Schottenheimer of the San Diego Chargers has been trying.
Edwards and Dungy spoke by telephone Monday, but they said they would not talk to each other again until before the game, on the field. Dungy said he would have preferred a different first-round opponent to avoid facing his friend.
“They’re not fun games,” Dungy said. “It’s just different. It’s really hard to explain, but it goes with the territory.”
During the season, Edwards and Dungy talk most often during losing streaks, or difficult times. When Dungy’s 18-year-old son, James, committed suicide in December 2005, Edwards was still coaching the Jets, who played the night before James’s funeral. The Jets lost that game to New England, 31-21, and Edwards did not leave Giants Stadium until after 1 a.m. But the next day, he was at the funeral in Florida.
“After the game, me and my wife looked at each other and said, ‘We’re going,’ ” Edwards said. “We got on the plane that morning. We didn’t sleep at all. We had to be there. I would’ve walked there. That’s what friends are for. You’ve got to support them when times are tough.”
Saturday night will be tough for whichever coach loses, particularly if it is Dungy, given the Colts’ 12-4 record and their previous playoff disappointments. But for both men, the friendship will continue.
“I feel like he’s my brother,” Edwards said. “He helped me a lot with my life when I went down to Tampa, just being a better man, and a person. That’s kind of where it stands with me and him.”
Hopefully not a repost. There's nothing really new in this one but I found it interesting all the same. I didn't realize they were this close.
January 5, 2007
Playoff Rivalry Puts Longtime Friendship on Hold
By CLIFTON BROWN
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 5 — The longtime friendship between Tony Dungy and Herman Edwards was severely tested in 1996.
Edwards was a scout then with the Kansas City Chiefs, and his goal was to become a general manager, not a coach. But after Dungy became the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he persuaded Edwards to join his staff as an assistant head coach in charge of defensive backs.
Initially, Edwards said, he feared he had made a terrible career move. In the 1996 regular-season opener between Tampa and Green Bay, Brett Favre threw four touchdown passes as the Packers embarrassed the Buccaneers, 34-3.
“In the first half, I walked down by Tony and I asked him, ‘Why did you do this to me?’ ” ‘ Edwards recalled this week. “I had a great job in Kansas City.”
Dungy laughed at the memory. “We were all worried about our careers at halftime, “Dungy said Thursday.
Their careers survived, and so did their friendship. On Saturday afternoon, Dungy will coach the Indianapolis Colts against Edwards and his Chiefs in the opening round of the American Football Conference playoffs. Unlike the relationship between New England Coach Bill Belichick and Jets Coach Eric Mangini, which became frosty once Mangini left the Patriots’ staff, Edwards and Dungy say they have not let competition harm their relationship.
For three decades, Dungy, 51, and Edwards 52, have been there for each other, at weddings, at funerals, on vacations and on the telephone. But for 60 minutes Saturday, they will be adversaries, an awkward situation for both.
“It’s difficult in the sense that the outcome is obviously not good for one of us,” Edwards said during a conference call Wednesday. “You worked this hard to get here, then all of a sudden you have to play your best friend. That’s the difficult part. Whoever wins it, we’re going to be pulling for that guy until he gets to the Super Bowl and wins it. That’s how we’ve always felt.”
Their relationship began in an odd way at the 1977 Japan Bowl, a collegiate all-star game. Dungy was a quarterback with the University of Minnesota, and Edwards was a defensive back with San Diego State. Edwards intercepted Dungy’s last pass of the game, and from that on-field encounter, a friendship clicked.
Though they share similar coaching philosophies, their personalities differ. Dungy’s demeanor rarely changes during a game, whether the Colts are 20 points ahead or 20 points behind.
“I’m a lot better at holding thoughts inside than I was when I was younger,” he said. “It’s something I do consciously. No. 1, I’m trying to think ahead to the next situation. No. 2, I’m trying to show my team that I’m in control and that I’m poised out there, even when I’m not.”
That reserved nature did not rub off on Edwards, who can become emotional even during routine news conferences.
“When we were at Tampa, guys used to say, ‘Tony won’t say it, but Herm will,’ ” Edwards said.
This will be the second time Dungy and Edwards have coached against each other in the playoffs. The first was at the end of the 2002 season, when the Jets, coached by Edwards, dominated the Colts, 41-0, at Giants Stadium. It is a day Dungy would like to forget.
“We owe him one,” he said.
That was the first meeting between two African-American head coaches in the National Football League playoffs. Seven of the league’s 32 teams were coached by African-Americans this season, though two lost their jobs this week: Dennis Green in Arizona and Art Shell in Oakland. No African-American head coach has ever reached the Super Bowl, but Dungy and Edwards hope to change that this season.
Edwards spent five years as Dungy’s assistant in Tampa, before becoming the Jets’ head coach in 2001. He spent five seasons as the Jets’ coach before leaving after last season to coach the Chiefs. He says he feels for Dungy, who is making his eighth consecutive playoff appearance but who has yet to reach the league’s ultimate game. Each season, the pressure increases.
“There are a lot of great players, a lot of great coaches, that maybe never coach in a Super Bowl game,” Edwards said.
He mentioned the time it took Bill Cowher to win one with the Steelers and how long Marty Schottenheimer of the San Diego Chargers has been trying.
Edwards and Dungy spoke by telephone Monday, but they said they would not talk to each other again until before the game, on the field. Dungy said he would have preferred a different first-round opponent to avoid facing his friend.
“They’re not fun games,” Dungy said. “It’s just different. It’s really hard to explain, but it goes with the territory.”
During the season, Edwards and Dungy talk most often during losing streaks, or difficult times. When Dungy’s 18-year-old son, James, committed suicide in December 2005, Edwards was still coaching the Jets, who played the night before James’s funeral. The Jets lost that game to New England, 31-21, and Edwards did not leave Giants Stadium until after 1 a.m. But the next day, he was at the funeral in Florida.
“After the game, me and my wife looked at each other and said, ‘We’re going,’ ” Edwards said. “We got on the plane that morning. We didn’t sleep at all. We had to be there. I would’ve walked there. That’s what friends are for. You’ve got to support them when times are tough.”
Saturday night will be tough for whichever coach loses, particularly if it is Dungy, given the Colts’ 12-4 record and their previous playoff disappointments. But for both men, the friendship will continue.
“I feel like he’s my brother,” Edwards said. “He helped me a lot with my life when I went down to Tampa, just being a better man, and a person. That’s kind of where it stands with me and him.”