Quiet Strength (Part 2)

I'm continuing on my assignment of reading 90 minutes a week. I read all 90 minutes in one sitting this week and I continued reading Quiet Strength.

Last time I read, the NFL draft had just finished up and Tony Dungy had not been drafted by any team. He was devastated by this and wasn't sure where to go from there. Dungy had received calls from teams to play at a different position, but not as quarterback. He even received a call from the professional football league up in Canada to be quarterback. Dungy really wasn't sure what to do. He had dreamt for so long of becoming a quarterback in the NFL, but that dream seemed so far away. What made it harder for Dungy was that the CFL was offering Dungy about ten times more money to come play for them. After many long phone calls, Dungy decided to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Dungy worked as hard as he could to make the team. He was first placed with the offensive unit at wide receiver. At that point, Pittsburgh already had a verteran group of wide receivers, so the coach moved him to the defensive side at safety. Dungy put in a lot of work to make the team, watching film, asking questions, and absorbing every bit of information he could from his coaches. As training camp and the preseason was over, Dungy had made the team. He even had a decent first year, making three interceptions. Then, his dream opened back up as the two top quarterbacks for the team were injured during a game. Dungy got the opportunity to play at quarterback, but played terribly. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumble to lose the game, 27-10. Coach told him to keep his head up and work hard, but just as he started to get reacquainted with the quarterback position, he found out that their starting quarterback would be healthy enough to play and that he would be moved back to safety.

During Dungy's second season, he started to put on some muscle weight and was ready to make another statement for the year. Unfortunately, Dungy hit a road block as he became sick. He went to the doctor and found out that he had mononucleosis. Dungy missed three weeks of practice and started getting really frustrated. One day, Dungy's coach, Donnie Shell, came to visit Dungy to see how he was doing. As Dungy expressed his frustration, Shell reminded Dungy of his faith. Dungy thought about it and had realized that he was placing football first in his life, rather than God. After Shell had that talk with him, Dungy got back to placing God first. Miraculously, Dungy regained his health and was able to practice a week before the first preseason game. That season, Dungy lead the team in interceptions and was tied for tenth in the league. The Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl that year over the Cowboys.

I loved reading this because I can relate to it in so many ways. I have been to the point in my life where I have placed sports first. I know that's not right, but that's what has happened. I know that in my faith, I need to keep God as my number one priority and keep it that way. Dungy went through the exact same situation and struggled through his time. He went on to getting back to where he should be in his faith and have a sensational year. This is great inspiration to me and it's really cool to know that someone of his stature has gone through the same thing as me.