Quiet Strength

"Quiet Strength" an autobiography by Tony Dungy is a very fascinating and inspiring book for anybody interested in sports.  Through the first 100 pages this book has covered his childhood and family and through his football playing days in high school, college and the NFL.  I found his family to be very interesting.  He grew up with a brother and sister and both his parents were teachers.  His father was a professor and his mother was a grade school teacher.  Because his parents were educators, he was able to realize that he had the potential to do or become anything he wanted, where most of his friends didn’t understand that.  He was a very successful quarterback in high school and college but in the NFL he had a tougher time finding his spot the team.  During a period where he was switching positions and had a chance of being cut from the team he prayed and worked hard every day to get better.   And when he became very sick he found his strength in God.  His first team he played with was the Pittsburgh Steelers he had good relationships with his teammates and I found it remarkable that he and many of his teammates would pray and go to church together.  And also some would read the Bible in the locker room, which I thought was astonishing and not what I expected from professional football players.  His playing career was fairly short but he stressed the importance of the good relationships that he made while playing.  When he retired from football around the age of 25 he had many opportunities to become a coach because of the relationships he built around the league.  This qoute perfectly discribes Tony Dungy's character.  “Tony Dungy’s life is a living testimony of a man’s faith in God.  He has given us a new picture and definition of a ’Coach’.  Good guys do come in first!” –Lovie Smith