NFL missed too much important talent back then

Talking about accomplished college QBs like Chuck Ealey (who went 35-0 at the University of Toledo), Moon, Condredge Holloway and Eldridge Dickey, Dungy said: “These guys . . . would have been the Patrick Mahomeses and Russell Wilsons, but they didn’t get the opportunity, and it was a shame because it was the NFL that missed out on some of the excitement.”

But when Dungy was given a coaching opportunity with the Steelers as a 25-year-old, he learned that he could make it by unapologetically being himself. Former Steelers owner Dan Rooney (inset), who instituted the Rooney Rule — requiring every team with a head coaching vacancy to interview candidates of color — gave him that confidence. At the time, there were only 10 black assistants in the league. “Dan Rooney was such a blessing to me . . . I’m 25 years old and I’m going on a scouting trip, and a GM from another team says, ‘Hey, it’s great you’re coaching, but . . . you look like a player, not a coach.’ ” He went back to Rooney and asked, “Is this true?” “He said, ‘That might be the case in other places, but here we want you to be who you are’ . . . He meant that physically and emotionally.” That trickled down into the way he coached. Dungy had decorum, a calm demeanor and faith. I saw how he changed the culture in Indianapolis. He lifted that team on the field, but also taught them to be great fathers and philanthropic-minded men. It’s like the old EF Hutton commercial: When Dungy talks, people listen.