Twistity Sports Exclusive: TONY DUNGY AND THE FOG OF WORDS

 
Tony Dungy’s clarification still isn’t all that clear.

The former NFL coach and occasional NFL father confessor told the Tampa Tribune he would not have drafted Michael Sam, the first openly gay NFL player, because it would create “distractions.”

Distractions. This is the catch-all NFL term for anything coaches don’t like. Minnesota didn’t like punter Chris Kluwe’s advocacy of gay marriage, warned him about distractions, then cut him. Wife beaters generally get a second chance, though.

The Baltimore Ravens didn’t cut running back Ray Rice after he KO’d his soon-to-be bride in an elevator. Apparently that was not a distraction. Dallas linebacker Rolondo McClain, back in the game after a brief retirement, is due in court on Friday in Alabama while the team will be practicing in Oxnard, Calilf.,  and the Cowboys have not talked of a distraction.

Distractions. When, in the 1990s, Dungy wondered when his turn would come to be an NFL head coach, he would not have liked to hear that team owners didn’t want to risk a “distraction.” He certainly heard worse.  If an owner didn’t want to hire a black head coach, the owner could pass that off as a potential distraction and if he hired a black coach, eventually he’d have to fire a black coach and who wants a distraction? That way it’s business as usual and nothing has to change.

Dungy needed to be much clearer than he was in his clarification, where he said he’s fine with gay players, that sexual orientation should play no part in the evaluation of a player, etc. He could have said in the original interview that Sam, a seventh-round pick of the St. Louis Rams, lacked the skills to play at the NFL level, that his lack of size and speed left him unqualified to be either a defensive end or linebacker. With the proper caveat, he could almost get away with the rest of what he said. There would be a value proposition there – the player isn’t good enough to be worth the publicity.

Except he can’t get away with that. He has put himself on the line for others where even their potential for stardom carried with it some nasty consequences. He advocated for Michael Vick’s return to the NFL after a prison sentence for dog-fighting. Ho, no distraction there, with animal rights advocates picketing, message boards powered by vitriol, media constantly working the story. As the Vikings defensive coordinator, he pushed for the selection of defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who was dropped in the 1995 first round due to a failed drug test for marijuana. He later coached Sapp in Tampa. Distraction? His best receiver in Indianapolis, Marvin Harrison, had some interesting run-ins with firearms. Distraction? No, apparently not.

In today’s NFL, teams can deal with a so-called distraction and move on. If Dungy would not take Sam on merit, fine. Say that. Too small, too slow, not skilled enough. If Sam had Jadeveon Clowney’s raw talent, there’d be no distraction. Dungy is well known for speaking from the heart, but here he needed to get his brain involved as well.

Today’s question: Did Tony Dungy put his foot in his mouth with his comments about Michael Sam? Answers in the comment box below, please.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .