In a Times Picayune story dated 7/25/14 sports journalist Jeff Duncan said former Colts head coach Tony Dungy's remarks about St. Louis Rams rookie draft player Michael Sam were cowardly. Duncan reported Dungy said, "I wouldn't have taken him. I wouldn't want to deal with all of it. It's not going to be totally smooth."
Dungy was a winning Super Bowl head coach and coached in the NFL for a number of years prior to becoming a sports commentator covering NFL football. As a former head coach, Dungy knew the news media would use Sam as a distraction and create a lot of hype that the team would have to deal with. Duncan has never walked in the football shoes of Tony Dungy so when it comes to Duncan's comment, one has only to consider the source.
Instead, Duncan trys to justify his cowardly remark by saying the media attention is now a part of the whole NFL. Then goes on to say, "the media circuses are unavoidable. They're as much a part of today's NFL as ankle tape and smelling salts." Of course the media circuses are very much avoidable and Duncan knows that because he is one of many in the news media who perpetuate that circus.
Dungy made an hosest comment based on his experience as a head coach. Duncan, on the other hand had an opportunity to make an honest comment as a sports journalist during Bountygate and failed the test by not reporting the true story. The true story was the Saints head coach Sean Payton allowed bountygate to happen and was suspended for one full season. That irresponsible act by Payton left the team without its regular head coach and put his own team in jeopardy. That was not only an irresponsible act concerning the team, but also concerning the assistant coaches and more importantly, the fans. And Duncan was silent and never told the true story.
In this writers judgement, reasonable people can determine for them selves what words were cowardly. Those that were spoken by Tony Dungy, or those that were not by Jeff Duncan.
This commentary written by John Lucia
