Quiet Strength (Part 3)

This week I read Quiet Strength for 90 minutes. I read for an hour one morning and thirty minutes that night.

Last time I left off, Tony Dungy had won the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dungy started celebrating with some of his Steelers buddies when Dungy received notice that he had been traded. Dungy was on his way to San Francisco to join the 49ers. That season, the 49ers went 2-14. Dungy, again, was traded to the New York Giants. Unfortunately for Dungy, he was released at the end of training camp. As Dungy pondered on what his future may be, he decided to retire from playing in the National Football League.

Before Dungy left New York, one of his coaches came up to him and gave a pitch to start coaching. Not long after that talk, the giants called Dungy to be one of their coaches. At the same time, the Steelers had also offered Dungy a coaching deal. Having such a great relationship with the Steelers, Dungy decided to join the club and become the youngest coach in the NFL.

After moving back to Pittsburgh, the team chaplain called Dungy to speak at a local church. One of the Steelers' lineman, Ted Peterson, was originally supposed to speak, but was sick. Dungy accepted. That Sunday, he showed up to the church and explained the situation. The senior pastor decided to get to know Dungy during breakfast so he could give the congregation a little introduction for him. Dungy did well speaking and after the service, the senior pastor came up to him to tell how well he did. However, he also added that he wanted Dungy to meet a young lady from the congregation. Hesitant, Dungy declined and told him another time may better.

Time had gone by and the pastor continued to push for the meeting of this young lady. Finally, Dungy accepted. He went to her house to meet her and immediately, Dungy was exstatic. Lauren Harris was gorgeous and Dungy couldn't believe she was single. Dungy also met her parents while he was there. They chatted for a while, but shortly after, Harris had to go to a class. Dungy also had to leave for work. Dungy knew right away that there was something different about Harris and wanted to meet up again.

They started hanging out and getting to know each other more. As they progressed, Dungy knew she was the one and proposed. She said yes and they got married.

After their marriage, Dungy went through many different teams as a coach. He stayed at Pittsburgh for a while as the defensive coordinator, then to Cincinnati as the defensive backs coach, then to Kansas City as the defensive coordinator, then to Minnesota at the defensive coordinator. During this time, the Dungy's also had three kids.

Dungy had to make a lot of decisions for his family and for himself. Every time a new opportunity arose, Dungy went to the Lord for guidance. He faithfully prayed and felt that every decision that he made was the Lord's decision, as well. Dungy is definitely a great role model to me. He is a living example of what a Christian should be. This is why Tony Dungy is my favorite coach.