Tony Dungy: Abilene has a champ with Day Nursery

Tony Dungy mixed football, faith, faithfulness and fine food Monday evening, when he spoke to a large crowd celebrating the 50th anniversary of Day Nursery of Abilene.

The former NFL coach, who led the Indianapolis Colts to a 2006 Super Bowl win and is currently a football analyst for NBC Sports, said he was apprehensive about following two other pro football standouts at Day Nursery events. For the 30th, it was former quarterback Steve Largent. Ten years ago, the guest was Dungy's own quarterback, Peyton Manning.

This from a coach who told the story of his game-turning 10-second halftime speech, when the Colts rallied to beat their nemesis, the New England Patriots, in a home playoff game.

But he was up for the challenge.

"It is awesome to be here celebrating the Day Nursery of Abilene," he said.

Dungy, the first Black coach to win a Super Bowl, endeared himself to the crowd immediately, saying how he was made welcome. However, one guest set him straight in the serving line.

People were not at the Abilene Convention Center exhibit hall to hear Dungy speak, he joked. Rather, their ticket included a prime rib dinner by Perini's. That's why they all were there.

Still, Dungy was the prime time guest, and he furthered endeared himself by talking about three players from Abilene - Cooper grads Dominic Rhodes and Justin Snow, whose mother was at the event, and Chicago Bears safety Danieal Manning - who played in their 2006 Super Bowl clash. Manning played at Abilene Christian.

"Dominic should've been the MVP of Super Bowl 41," he said, to applause.

Colts placekicker Adam Vinatieri, he said, was pretty good but it helped having Snow deliver precise snaps. He said Snow did a lot in the community and was an example of faith.

More applause.

"All those ties to Abilene," Dungy mused. "The Lord just worked it out that I could be here on this 50th anniversary celebration."

About the halftime speech

The Colts were playing the Patriots in the 2006 playoffs.

"You win the game, you go to the Super Bowl; you lose, you go home disappointed," he said. The Colts had lost to Tom Brady's bunch a couple of times in the playoffs and were down 21-3 at halftime.

"We finally had them at home and we thought this was going to be our year. But we couldn't have played worse in the first half," he said. To make matters worse, Dungy on his way to the locker room heard CBS commentator James Brown say that no team ever had come from more than 10 points down to win a league championship game.

"Why did he have to say that now?" Dungy said to laughter. "I really, really need my best halftime speech ever if we're going to pull this thing out."

The coach first let players and other coaches speak, then was about to offer his words of wisdom when an official knocked at the door to say the team had 30 seconds to kickoff.

"In my 15 seconds, I said, 'Guys, we're playing terrible. If we don't start playing better fast, we're going to lose," he said.

The audience roared.

"And we went out there and executed the greatest comeback in the history of an NFL championship game," he said, smiling.

Final score: Colts 38, Patriots 34

Playing those Texas teams

Football fans could've listened to Dungy talk football all night, and he did a little more.

He said he was a quarterback before coming to the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers, for whom he played three seasons, made him a defensive back.

Applause was minimal when he announced his team.

"I got one clap back there," he said to laughter by mostly Dallas Cowboys fans.

But in 1977, against the Houston Oilers, the Steelers' two quarterbacks went down with injuries and Dungy went behind center. Earlier in the game, he had intercepted his first pass as a pro. In the fourth quarter, he threw an interception. He is the last player in the NFL do that in a game.

"When I went to the bank the next day to cash my check," he said, "I didn't even have to show my ID."

Dungy said that when he played in the 1970s, the Cowboys considered themselves to be the Neiman-Marcus of the NFL and the Steelers JC Penney.

But a teammate, commenting on the Steelers' big wins over the Cowboys, said they made enough money beating their rival to be able to shop at Neiman's.

"They weren't too happy about that," he quipped.

He would go on to coach at Tampa Bay and Indianapolis from 1996 to 2008. All but two of his teams made the playoffs.

'What a neat thing' - Day Nursery

Dungy said he would speak longer than 15 seconds but not 30 minutes, as scheduled (for the record, he spoke for 22 or so minutes).

He called Largent, who played mostly for Seattle and later was elected by Oklahomans to Congress, a spiritual mentor who let him know that being a great football player and "serving the Lord" can mix.

That drew applause from the crowd.

As for Manning, "I got to know Peyton a little bit over the years," he joked.

"He's a great person and very humble and if you were here 10 years ago, you know what I'm talking about," Dungy said. Manning was a role model in Indianapolis, making that city "a better place to live."

Though he doesn't get to Texas much, he recently was in Midland in hopes of starting an All Pro Dad chapter in that area.

"Same thing there, great hospitality, and tonight I'm here supporting families, especially those caring for young children," he said.

He was graduating from high school -"trying to go from a boy to man," he said - in 1973, when Day Nursery opened.

"It's pretty amazing that the Lord put that together and brought me here tonight," he said.

The nonprofit's mission, he said, brought to mind the parable about a king who commended his servants for taking care of him when he was in need. They responded they had not done that for him.

He answered, "When you do this for the least of those around me, you've done it for me."

"That's one reason we're here tonight because that's such an admirable goal, doing it for the least in our community," he said. Dungy later would challenge attendees to give back - raise $50,000 with $50 donations to celebrate the evening.

Dungy said he did his homework on Day Nursey and was impressed that its roots go back by even further than 1973. Originally, there was a facility established to care for the children of working Black families.

"I thought, 'What a neat thing. This organization served everybody. Not just one area, not just one group of people, not just one race,'" he said. "Whoever is in need.

"So over 90 years, this organization has had the same mission and the same goal - help people trying to make a living, trying to do better for their families and serve those children who needed help."

Dungy noted the education component, saying his parents were teachers and his wife previously taught sixth grade.

"That again shows that the goal was to help everyone and, again, that is unique."

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Tony Dungy: Abilene has a champ with Day Nursery