Colts' Dungy announces retirement

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

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Dungy choked up as he began to announce his retirement.

(Bay News 9) -- Tony Dungy is leaving the Indianapolis Colts after seven seasons as the club's head coach.

Dungy is retiring after 13 years as an NFL head coach. He spent his first six seasons at the helm of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"These seven years have been better than I could ever have imagined," Dungy, the only black coach to win a Super Bowl, said at a news conference Monday. "I just have to thank everyone."

Prior to the official announcement, fans in the Tampa Bay area expressed their thoughts.

"I'd hate to see him retire," said Ed Dees. "He's a great football coach and a great human being. I think it would be a great loss to football if he retired because we need people of his caliber in professional sports."

"He's a great man, great coach," said Sonny Jones, a Bucs fan. "Great family man. I understand the tragedy he's had in his life, the loss of his son and long distance commuting to be with your family in Tampa and coach in Indianapolis."

More Information

Dungy will be replaced by assistant Jim Caldwell. The move comes a little more than a week after the Colts were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs following a 12-4 regular season.

"I'm thankful to the Lord for the career I've had, my wife and I talked and we felt it was the right time," he said. "You don't always get to go out on top. It's hard to go on top because it's so much fun winning and when you're winning you don't want to stop."

Dungy has spent the past five years debating whether to leave football to spend more time with his family. He said he and his wife discussed the decision.

"We just felt this was the right time," Dungy said. "Don't shed any tears for me. I got to live a dream most people don't get to live and what phase two is we'll find out but phase one has been awful special and sweet."

Watch Dungy's announcement in its entirety on Bay News 9 On Demand on channel 342, on Bright House Networks digital cable. Look in the 'BH Sports' section, then select the 'News Conferences' category.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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