Bears' Smith, Colts' Dungy to Make History at Super Bowl XLI
CHICAGO, Jan. 22, 2007 — -- On the Friday evening before the start of the AFC playoffs, Bears coach Lovie Smith had dinner in Indianapolis with his close friends, Tony Dungy and Herman Edwards, before the two squared off for their first-round playoff game between the Colts and Chiefs.
His Bears in a bye week, Smith sensed history. The three African-American coaches, devoted Christians and family men, were striving for the Super Bowl. Smith and Edwards learned NFL coaching from Dungy, their mentor when they worked for him with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a special moment.
Super Bowl XLI will be even more special. Dungy's Colts, who beat the Patriots 38-34 in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, will meet Lovie's Bears. The NFL has been waiting 41 years for the first African-American head coach to patrol the sidelines at a Super Bowl. Now there will be two, and one will be the winner. Actually, the nation will be the winner in this one.
"You always talk about it,'' Dungy said of the chance to be the first African-American head coach in the Super Bowl. "When [Smith] took the job in Chicago, I said, 'I'm happy you are going to the NFC and maybe we can play against each other.' When we had dinner three weeks ago, he and I and Herm were still in it. We talked about maybe two of us will play against each other. You hope it happens. It's going to be great going against them. They are a great team.''
Hopefully, Edwards, the Chiefs' head coach, will make it to Miami. How can he miss it? This is history.
"We had a chance to visit for about two hours,'' Dungy said of the family dinner with Smith and Edwards before the playoffs. "We talked about how we really got started in 1996 in Tampa. Some things don't change, the things that Lovie, Herm and I believe in. That's the exciting thing for me. I'm so happy Lovie got there because he does things the right way. He's going to get there with a lot of class, no profanity, no intimidation, just helping his guys play the best that they can. That's the way I try to do it."
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