Tony Dungy - Personal

Personal

Dungy's tenure in Tampa Bay as the head coach of the Buccaneers brought greater attention to his personal accomplishments outside of sports. Tony Dungy has earned widespread respect both on and off the field due to what many see as strong convictions and high personal standards of ethics and behavior, which affect his behavior as both a coach and as a member of his community. He has been active in many community service organizations in the cities in which he has coached. While in Tampa Bay, Dungy worked as a public speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes in Action.

He began a mentoring program for young people called Mentors for Life, and provided Buccaneers' tickets for the participants. He also supported other charitable programs in the area such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club, the Prison Crusade Ministry, foster parenting organizations, and Family First. He continues to assist Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Boys and Girls Club in Indianapolis. He also supports the Black Coaches Association National Convention and Indiana Black Expo.

His community involvement and care continues in Indianapolis where Tony helped launch the Basket of Hope program at the Riley Hospital for Children. Basket of Hope is a national, non-profit organization which began in 1995. Tony is the National Spokesperson for Basket of Hope and delivers the baskets filled with age and gender appropriate toys, games and craft items to Riley Hospital for Children. Along with the baskets, he delivers a Hope Tote, which includes Quiet Strength, a journal, Bible, Christian music, and other inspirational materials. Dungy worked with Basket of Hope and Riley Hospital for Children to implement the Super Baskets of Hope project where 7,000 baskets and totes were delivered to the 32 NFL cities and participating hospitals during the weeks surrounding Super Bowl XLVI.

Dungy is an evangelical Christian and at one point in his coaching career considered leaving football for the prison ministry. Throughout his career, he has remained involved with community service organizations. On March 20, 2007, Dungy aligned himself with a socially conservative organization, the Indiana Family Institute, and openly supported an amendment to the Indiana constitution which would have defined marriage as solely between one man and one woman. Dungy also appeared in a testimonial video on I Am Second, in which he shares his story of his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Dungy's parents were, Wilbur Dungy, Ph.D., (1926-2004) a science professor at Jackson Community College and Cleomae Dungy (1920-2002), who taught Shakespeare at Jackson High in Michigan. Wilbur Dungy served as a pilot during World War II pilot with the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

Dungy is married to Lauren Harris of Pittsburgh and has two daughters, Tiara and Jade, and five sons, James (died December 22, 2005), Eric, Jordan, Justin and Jason. James committed suicide at age 18, outside of Tampa. The Dungys still keep their home in the Tampa Bay area. Dungy's son, Eric, plays football at the University of Oregon.

On September 6, 2007, The Indianapolis Star reported that the Davie-Brown Index (DBI), an independent celebrity rating service for advertisers, places Dungy in the top 15 of the 900 actors, musicians, TV personalities, and sports celebrities it ranks for overall appeal, putting him on a level with actors such as Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman. Among sports figures, he ranks second only to Hank Aaron.

On February 27, 2008, Indiana Wesleyan University honored Dungy in a ceremony where he was inducted into IWU's Society of World Changers. Dungy also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the university.

On August 5, 2009, Dungy spoke at the 53rd General Council of the Assemblies of God.

Since retirement, Dungy has become an informal mentor to the formerly suspended NFL player Michael Vick, counseling him during his incarceration and, with the help of Donovan McNabb, convincing Eagles owner Jeff Lurie and head coach Andy Reid to consider signing him to the team's roster.