When you have fervently followed your favorite sports team for decades, you put their stars and players on an imaginary pedestal. It’s a natural outcome. As I’ve talked about before, I grew up in Pittsburgh when the city’s NFL team, the Steelers, won four Super Bowls in the 1970s.
So the Steelers of that decade are much revered.One of their biggest stars, Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris, died suddenly last month, and that hurt. He was not only my favorite Steeler, but I also got to know him and was honored that he invited me to his Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the summer of 1990 that included a brunch with former NFL greats and a party that evening at the Pittsburgh Hilton, where I met so many of my heroes from those Super Bowl teams. Harris lived up to his legend.The team was coached by Chuck Noll, who I also idolized.
Noll took notice of the leadership skills and football knowledge of one of his defensive backs, Tony Dungy, and began to mentor him to become a football coach, which he did.Dungy won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts and also helmed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during his 13-year coaching career. He entered the NFL Hall of Fame as a coach in 2016.If you follow football, you know Dungy is now a noted NFL broadcaster and analyst with NBC. But it is what you don’t know about him that will make your blood boil.
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