OT: Re: a great story

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I knew I'd seen this before. This article is actually from back in February,

2006 but it's apparently being recirculated now, due to the Colts recent Super

Bowl win. The breakfast meeting was held by Athletes in Action, a ministry of

Campus Crusade for Christ.

I wonder if they ever determined more about the reasons why Tony Dungy's eldest

son killed himself? I've read that he was very depressed, for whatever reasons,

and that he had also overdosed on drugs at least one time, prior to fatally

hanging himself a couple days before Christmas, 2005.

I find it hard to believe the father actually said no, he would not want him,

his son, back ... Then again, for those who believe in the existence of heaven,

I guess the sooner one gets there, the better.

Sad, about the disorder the young son has ... feeling no pain. Interesting quote

though, where he says: " Pain is necessary for kids, to find out what's good and

what's harmful "

Thanks for sharing the article, . Even though it wasn't necessarily about

childhood arthritis, it was quite thought-provoking.

Aloha,

Georgina

Tony D

Tony Dungy

23 January 2007

It was with great pride and joy to watch the Colts,

led by Head Coach - Tony Dungy, win their trip to

the Super Bowl this past Sunday night. While, not a

big football follower, there was good reason and

insight to support and cheer with enthusiasm for

Tony Dungy's Colt team?

Below is a very touching story about this great man,

and the essence of his purpose in life. It was most

amusing to hear Coach Dungy's responses to the TV

sports interviewer, when he was asked how great it

was to be one of the first " African-American " head

coaches to take his team to a Super Bowl? Head Coach

" Tony Dungy " responded immediately with: " Yes that's

good, but what is really great and awesome, is how

God worked this out for us; it's just amazing how He

made this all come together! " Thus, (as Harvey

would say after reading the following) " and now, you

know the rest of the story. "

Dungy Makes Super Bowl Stop to Speak at Athletes in

Action Breakfast

DETROIT, Mich. - They were there for breakfast, and

they were there to cheer New York Jets running back

Curtis . And it was who received the

Athletes in Action Bart Starr Award Saturday

morning, but the hundreds who gathered in

fourth-floor ballroom at the Marriott Renaissance in

Detroit, Mich., on the morning before Super Bowl XL

were clearly touched by the featured speaker.

That speaker was Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy.

Two hours into the breakfast, emcee Brent

introduced Dungy, who was welcomed with a lengthy

standing ovation. Dungy thanked t he crowd, shared an

anecdote about , then told the crowd he was

going to speak for about 15 minutes.

" It's great to be here, " Dungy told the crowd, then

adding with a laugh, " I just wish I wasn't here in

this capacity so many times of being just that close

to being in the game and just being an invited

speaker.

" My goal is to have our team here one day and have a

couple of tables with all of our guys here. Because

we have a special group of young men, a great group

of Christian guys. It'd be wonderful to have them

here so you could see their hearts and what they're

all about.

" It hasn't quite happened yet, but we're still

hoping one day it will. "

He told them he was going to talk about lessons he

had learned from his three sons. The crowd fell

silent. Then Dungy spoke.

And although this was a breakfast - and although at

many such events speakers speak over the clinking of

glasses and murmurs from semi-interested listeners -

for most of the 15 minutes the room was silent

except for Dungy's voice.

He spoke of his middle son, , who he said shares

his

competitiveness and who is focused on sports " to

where it's almost a problem. " He spoke of his

youngest son, Jordan, who has a rare congenital

condition which causes him not to feel pain.

" He feels things, but he doesn't get the sensation

of pain, " Dungy said. The lessons learned from

Jordan, Tony Dungy said, are many.

" That sounds like it's good at the beginning, but I

promise you it's not, " Dungy said. " We've learned a

lot about pain in the last five years we've had

Jordan. We've learned some hurts are really

necessary for kids. Pain is necessary f or kids to

find out the difference between what's good and

what's harmful. "

Jordan, Dungy said, loves cookies.

" Cookies are good, " Dungy said, " but in Jordan's

mind, if they're good out on the plate, they're even

better in the oven. He will go right in the oven

when my wife's not looking, reach in, take the rack

out, take the pan out, burn his hands and eat the

cookies and burn his tongue and never feel it. He

doesn't know that's bad for him. "

Jordan, Dungy said, " has no fear of anything, so we

constantly have to watch him. "

The lesson learned, Dungy said, is simple.

" You get the question all the time, 'Why does the

Lord allow pain in your life? Why do bad things

happen to good people? If God is a God of love, why

does he allow these hurtful things to happen?'''

Dungy said.

" We've l earned that a lot of times because of that

pain, that little temporary pain, you learn what's

harmful. You learn to fear the right things.

" Pain sometimes lets us know we have a condition

that needs to be healed. Pain inside sometimes lets

us know that spiritually we're not quite right and

we need to be healed and that God will send that

healing agent right to the spot.

" Sometimes, pain is the only way that will turn us

as kids back to the Father. "

Finally, he spoke of .

Dungy, Tony Dungy's oldest son, died three

days before Christmas. As he did while delivering

' eulogy in December, Dungy on Saturday spoke

of him eloquently and steadily, speaking of lessons

learned and of the positives taken from experience.

" It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as

painful as it was, there we re some good things that

came out of it, " Dungy said.

Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging

the last time he saw him, on Thanksgiving of

last year. " I met a guy the next day after the

funeral, " Dungy said. " He said, 'I was there. I

heard you talking. I took off work today. I called

my son. I told him I was taking him to the movies.

We're going to spend some time and go to dinner.'

That was a real, real blessing to me. "

Dungy said he has gotten many letters since '

death relaying similar messages.

" People heard what I said and said, 'Hey, you

brought me a little closer to my son,' or, 'You

brought me a little closer to my daughter,''' Dungy

said. " That is a tremendous blessing. "

Dungy also said some of ' organs were donated

through donors programs.

" We got a letter back two weeks ago that two people

had received his corneas, and now they can see,''

Dungy said. " That's been a tremendous blessing. "

Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl

from the family's church in Tampa. She had known

for many years, Dungy said. She went to the

funeral because she knew .

" When I saw what happened at funeral, and your

family and the celebration and how it was handled,

that was the first time I realized there had to be a

God, " Dungy said the girl wrote. " I accepted Christ

into my life and my life's been different since that

day. "

Added Dungy, " That was an awesome blessing, so all

of those things kind of made me realize what God's

love is all about. "

Dungy also said he was asked often how he was able

to return to the Colts so quickly after '

death. died on December 22, and Dungy returned

to the team one week later. Dungy said the answer

was simple.

" People asked me, 'How did you recover so

quickly? " '' Dungy said. " I'm not totally recovered.

I don't know that I ever will be. It's still very,

very painful, but I was able to come back because of

something one of my good Christian friends said to

me after the funeral.

" He said, 'You know accepted Christ into his

heart, so you know he's in heaven, right?' I said,

'Right, I know that.' He said, 'So, with all you

know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him

back now, would you?' When I thought about it, I

said, 'No, I wouldn't. I would not want him back

with what I know about heaven.'

" That's what helped me through the grieving process.

Because of Christ's spirit in me, I had that

confidence that is the re, at peace with the

Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of

something that's very, very painful.

" That's my prayer today, that everyone in this room

would know the same thing. "