18 Comments

1. Rob says:

   March 22, 2007 at 7:54 pm

   “I used to admire and respect Tony Dungy. Suffice to say that is over.”

   Funny…I was thinking the same thing about you after this post, as much as it pains me to say that.

   Why is it when a Christian man publicly states his beliefs, he is to be scorned and avoided? As far as that crack about James Dungy, well, it’s one thing to disagree with the coach and other Christian conservatives on their views. It’s another thing to speculate that a man’s son killed himself because he may or may not be gay and was afraid to come out to his family.

   That’s not respectful or fair. That’s just plain vicious, and shouldn’t be condoned by anyone, regardless of your viewpoint.

   So much for this tolerance I keep hearing so much about.
2. Andrew says:

   March 22, 2007 at 8:30 pm

   Rob – I used to admire and respect Tony Dungy. And I make that statement knowing he is a deeply religious man and uses his faith and principles to guide him in his life.

   I would like to think of myself as “tolerant”, and respectful of religious people. Religion was an important part of my family and my growing up years.

   I am dismayed that Dungy crossed the line and decided to endorse a super charged political organization whose agenda is hate, disrespect for individual liberties and the dignity of people. And this is aside from whether one is for or against same sex marriage. It is about non discrimination in housing, jobs, health care, property rights and a myriad of other social issues.

   As for James, I don’t know why he did what he did. I am just speculating and just connecting the dots. But let’s assume for a moment young James was gay. Here you live in a household and you idolize your dad, yet the constant message you get back is that there is something wrong with you. You are a flawed human being. You can only be “cured” by embracing Jesus Christ and repenting your “sins” unto the Lord.

   Yeah, I think I’d blow my brains out.

   And yeah, for that kind of twisted logic, which is preached by the Focus on the Family crowd, I have no “tolerance”.

   And I’m damn proud of it!
3. Former Fan says:

   March 25, 2007 at 6:10 pm

   You wrote:
   But knowing Coach Dungy and his constant religious pontificating, my gut told me that his son was hiding a deep secret. My instinct told me James was gay, and if you understand the parallel universe that Christians operate in, sometimes death might be preferable to the *insert shriek here* horror of being gay.

   Now my instincts are being reconfirmed as I read this report in the Indianapolis Star, as Dungy was the keynote speaker at a banquet the other night for some nut group called the “Indiana Family Institute”.

   1.) Nothing in that Indy Star report you link to either “confirms” or “reconfirms” anything about your guess that James Dungy was gay. That report, in fact, does not mention James Dungy at all. So perhaps instead of “reconfirms”, you mean some other word?

   2.) It seems tome a very bizarre guess on your part that James Dungy was gay. His girlfriend discovered his dead body.

   http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2268593

   From the ESPN.com story the day after his death:
   “Until such time as the toxicology results are received, normally four to six weeks, the cause and manner of death are listed as pending. Typically, autopsy reports are available within six to eight weeks. James Dungy’s girlfriend found him when she returned to the Campus Lodge Apartments at about 1:30 a.m., Carter said. He wasn’t breathing, and a sheriff’s deputy performed CPR before an ambulance rushed him to University Community Hospital, Carter said. He was pronounced dead there.
4. former fan says:

   March 25, 2007 at 6:16 pm

   Sorry, typo:
   “Seems tome…” should be “Seems to me…”

   And yes, of course I realize having a g/f does not prove he wan’t gay.

   But the news at the time discussed fights they had been having and him being distraught at her leaving him.

   Again, however, you can engage in whatever wild speculation you wish.

   The blogosphere is full of bloggers who like to do that sort of thing instead of sticking to credible facts and expressing opinions about facts.
5. Alex says:

   March 26, 2007 at 7:04 pm

   Andrew don’t listen to this bullshit… these so called Christians cheer and rah rah anything that deprives queers of any human rights or equality. They are no different than the terrorists… try to be a gay man in the Muslim world they behead you there. How different are the Jesus freaks here? If they could do it to us they would.
6. Peter says:

   March 26, 2007 at 7:58 pm

   Hmmm…Dungy is on the Lord’s side.

   But is the Lord on Dungy’s side?

   Last I knew, the Lord Jesus never explicitly said a word on the subject that got Dungy in a bit of hot water. Old Testament another story….

   Still waiting for clarification from the Lord. Last I knew he hasn’t been proven to have said a word in about two thousand years.

   Just sayin’….
7. HIGHSCHOOL FRIEND says:

   August 18, 2008 at 9:30 am

   NO…JAMES WAS NOT GAY HE WAS MY FRIEND N HIGHSCHOOL AND WAS A REALLY NICE DUDE…. HE NEVER SEEMED LIKE THE TYPE TO TAKE HIS OWN LIFE. I THINK THERE WAS TROUBLE AND HE JUST THOUGHT OF THE ONLY WAY OUT. HE WAS PRETTY POPULAR IN SCHOOL.. BUT REALLY DOWN TO EARTH…….IN FACT HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON ON THE FOOTBALL TEAM THAT I MET WHEN I CAME INTO SCHOOL. I WAS A FRESHMAN AND HE WAS A JUNIOR. IF IT WASNT FOR HIM I WOULDNT HAVE MADE THE TEAM…….I THINK HE WAS LOST WITH TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH HIS DADS STANDARDS AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO HE WAS HIMSELF BY HIMSELF……..BUT WE WILL ALWAYS MISS DUNGY….AND I HOPE HE IS RESTING IN PEACE AND HAS A SECOND CHANCE………
8. Sherlock says:

   October 15, 2008 at 4:10 pm

   Let me guess, you and Peter are gay? And bitter and hateful people that like to make rampant speculation about other people. Good thing that you’ll never have to worry about losing a son of your own to tragedy, being your gay and all.

   (Ironic hypocrisy WAS intended)

   How about talking sports.
9. Janice says:

   January 1, 2009 at 9:43 pm

   I just heard about him and I do think he may have been gay too. The suicide rate for young gay people is higher than for heterosexuals. Now that I see what his dad believed, I can see he may have thought he’d never be accepted by his dad and family. Also, the young man was apparently “into” being Christian as well. So if he realized he was gay, he may have been devastated enough to kil himself. RIP.
10. Bob says:

    January 6, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    Lets talk sports first of all.

    As for this article: if you had a child/sibling die would you have others ridicule it?

    Have a heart, our prayers are with Dungy.

    As are they with you, that you may come to appreciate God more, as well as the value of life.
11. Jerry says:

    January 12, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    Suicide is a manifestation of mental illness. Mental illness, just like other diseases, are forces that act on an individual independent of the individual’s control. There is no universal threshold of environmental influence that is powerful enough to cause suicide. Just as it would be unfair to blame an individual for having a heart attack or a stroke, it is unfair to find a cause and effect relationship to explain how mental illness can cause death.
12. jen says:

    January 13, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    I respect Tony Dungy as a man.I don’t think its fair to speculate as to why James killed himself. There could be so many reasons why. Why is the assumption as homosexual!!!
13. Daniel Serrano says:

    February 22, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    As a close friend of James Dungy, I feel compelled to inform you that he was not gay.

    I was on the phone with him less than an hour before his death. My friend Alex (one of the pallbearers at his funeral) and I had him on speakerphone, telling him that he should come out and chill with us. He told us he’d call us the next day around noon. At 11:30, Alex notified me by phone of James’ death.
14. fan of the man says:

    March 4, 2009 at 12:58 pm

    his book was really good and i think everyone chrristian or not would prolly benefit by reading it he is a great guy
15. Coltsfan says:

    May 24, 2009 at 12:59 am

    james dungy was not gay. all of you need to stop saying he was. he had a girlfriend at the time. seriously, shut up. he was a great guy, as is his father. his father was the best coach the indianapolis colts ever have had, and ever will have. we miss the dungys
16. c says:

    June 18, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    Anyone who knows Tony Dungy knows that if his son was gay, he would have loved him just the same. He wouldn’t have judged him at all. So stop all this stuff about him being gay and killing himself because of his Dad’s faith. Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven. It’s not a sin to be gay, just to act on it, just like the millions of other sins out there. Christians don’t hate gay people. We just believe that God’s word is true–acting on your gay feelings is a sin.(God said it in the Bible, not me. Argue with Him.) But we’re all sinners, so we don’t think any less of you for being gay. We sin too, everyday. In order to be reconnected to God, we have to go through His Son, Jesus Christ. God can’t co-exist with sin. He is too holy. So He sent His Son to take our sins. All you have to do is believe this. And you know what, if you’re right and there is no such thing, oh well. But if I’m right, then you spend eternity in Hell. Have you ever been wrong about anything? We all have, haven’t we? This would not be a good time for you to be wrong, would it?
17. J says:

    July 9, 2009 at 1:22 am

    C…WELL SAID! R.I.P. James Dungy
18. HB says:

    July 19, 2009 at 12:09 am

    This article was not only immature and ill worded, but incredibly rude. it makes me sick to my stomache to think that a grown man like yourself, Andrew, could even write such a thing. Mr. Tony Dungy lost his son, and you seem to think its okay since Tony supports heterosexual marriage?
    I hope that Hell is a real place so that you can spend an eternity there.
    and C although I do not consider myself religous, what you said was ten times more mature and sensible than anything Mr. Kulyk chose to accuse Tony, christians, and ulitimately God of.