Time for a little revenge #7!
Don’t look now but Michael Vick might be coming to a city near you by the end of the week. According to Tony Dungy, Vick might sign with an NFL team by Friday afternoon.
Although it remains to be seen which team takes the Vick Plunge, one thing is for sure: Michael will be on “60 Minutes” this Sunday night talking to James Brown. Why Brown instead of someone like Oprah or Larry King? The answer is simple: Dungy.
Dungy and Brown are friends. Given Brown’s interrogation of Pacman Jones back in January, I don’t expect any Larry King-like softball questions. However, the interview definitely won’t be combative.
Earlier this year, I had an opportunity to interview Dungy’s co-author of two best selling books, Nathan Whitaker. Nathan is a former college football player who also has worked for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars. A number of topics were covered and Whitaker provided insightful answers about Dungy, Jon Gruden, Steve Spurrier and particularly Warren Sapp.
In this recent Washington Post column, Whitaker discusses Dungy’s current role in Vick’s life as well as his own thoughts about Vick getting a second chance. At the time of our interview, Whitaker opted not to answer any questions about Vick. However, he made up for it by sharing a lot of other great information.
1) Why do you think Quiet Strength was such a successful book?
I think there were a couple of reasons (leaving aside, of course, the tremendous writing that Tony and I created). As an initial matter, Tony has exhibited such authenticity in how he has lived his life, that people respect him. Coupled with that, then, is the desire that I think most of us have, to believe that “the good guy” can be successful, that you don’t have to give into the ways that the world might want you to behave to attain “success.” Tony is a very human example of accomplishment while overcoming disappointment and adversity.
2) What qualities set Tony Dungy apart from other coaches, players and front office professionals?
I think they are the same qualities that set him apart from many in society today – a sense of knowing what is right and staying grounded in following that. In addition, though, he also defines success differently than many others: he made it clear that while winning the Super Bowl was important, that was merely a facet of his desire to have his team make Tampa a better place to live (on-field success, community involvement for himself and the players, and so forth).
An example of his sense of doing what he believes is right can be seen in our collaboration. After trying to talk him into writing a book for almost three years (he didn’t think anybody would be interested enough to read about anything he’d done), he finally agreed and we proposed a one-month turnaround to provide publishers with the manuscript. He had his choice of publishers, but each wanted a proven writer, not…well, me. Despite having his choice of great, proven writers, Tony was very clear that there would be no book without me writing it. (I’m extremely grateful.)
3) How does Tony Dungy compare to your college football coach, Steve Spurrier?
It’s funny, but in some ways there are more similarities than might be immediately apparent. I know that startles you – you’re thinking, “Wait. Tony never wore a visor!” Both are very precise in their game planning and both rely on fostering personal responsibility (we had two team rules at Duke: don’t do anything to embarrass yourself, your family, or the university, and don’t wear hats indoors). Neither feel that you need to do anything special on game day, but rather recognize that you will play however you practiced that week. Both have also made it very clear through their careers that there are other things outside of football that are important to them. There are also some differences, too, I suppose.
4) What do you think of Jon Gruden and will he be outstanding or awful on Monday Night Football?
I like Jon – we worked together for two years and I have a Super Bowl ring from the experience. As for MNF, I think he has the potential to be great. That third seat in the booth is in a unique position to offer insights on a wide variety of topics, and I think Jon has the potential to be very entertaining in that role – to talk about football but also crack one-liners. He’s a terrific interview and can be very charming. Hopefully now that he’s off the sideline, there won’t be a need to put an audio delay on him in the booth.
5) Faith is the major theme of your second book Uncommon. How important is faith in a person’s life and what role has it played in yours?
I see faith as a foundational element of life. Uncommon is a look at a different way to live than the way often offered by society (having a sense of self-worth, living a life of integrity, and 29 other topics), and so many of those elements of the uncommon life are premised in a faith in God. Another aspect of faith, however, is being willing to trust your knowledge of what is right, whether it is not cheating or cutting corners or staying the course. Too often we hear that the ends justify the means, but living in faith is knowing that the means matter, and that the ends will work themselves out.
6) What projects (books or otherwise) are you working on right now?
I have a book with James Brown of CBS Sports that will be released in the fall, and Tony and I, along with his wife, Lauren, are working on another children’s book, which will come out in 2010. We’re also giving thought to another book for adults, and in my spare time, I’m trying to work on some fiction that I’ve been wanting to write. Pretty fun stuff for a guy who was just hoping to someday write a book.
After negotiating contracts when I worked for the Buccaneers and Jaguars, I had a couple of coaches ask if I could help as their representative once I was no longer with a team. My father had represented a number of football players in the 1980s but was no longer in the business, and I asked if he would join me. We have been very selective in who we work with – guys that we really like as people. Without going into detail and leaving someone out, suffice it to say that we represent NFL coordinators and assistants, several college head coaches and coordinators, and a couple of guys in front offices. The older I get the more I realize how important it is to like those with whom you work, and in that vein we have been very deliberate in the clients we have brought on.
8) What are a few books that you have enjoyed reading during the past year?
I have really enjoyed the Florida-based stories of Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey, and just finished a couple of Michael Connelly’s books, which are more traditional mysteries than the quirky stories of Hiaasen and Dorsey. Right now I’m reading The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler, and am seeing firsthand why his detective, Philip Marlowe, has been a fan favorite for so many decades. As for non-fiction, I recently read Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris and re-read Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.
9) Who is the most surprising person in the NFL and why?
There is quite a disconnect between the public persona of Warren Sapp and who he is behind the scenes. Don’t get me wrong, there’s not a complete disconnect – he can certainly mirror that public persona behind closed doors, but what I found really fascinating about Warren was how well read he was. He was conversant on any number of current events, more so than the rest of us in the organization, I think. I enjoyed speaking with him on some of our flights home after games when he would opine on the situation in the Middle East or other topics.
(Drew is the lead blogger of Pacman Jonesin’. You can subscribe to the feed on the right sidebar)
