In a recent phone call with my Mom, we talked about the usual suspects…weather, food, family. Then she threw me a surprise pass:
Mom: I’m listening to a book about football. It’s real good.
If anyone should know (or care) less about football than I, I suspect it is my 97-years-young mother. Had Candid Camera launched a new series and was I being spoofed?
Me: Mom, What are you talking about?
Mom: It’s by that guy from Tampa who was a football coach…Bungy.
We had lived in Tampa decades before and my memory wheels turned. A few years earlier, I had read Tony Dungy’s memoir, “Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life.” I stretched toward the literary ball.
Me: Do you mean Tony Dungy?
Mom: Yes, that’s him. It’s a good book. I like Bungy!
Pass completed. First Down!!!
If passing the pigskin had been the totality of the tale, Mom and I would not have been having that conversation. Despite her slight auditory challenge with his name, I knew that what she related to was Dungy’s personal journey that he shares in “Quiet Strength”—one of personal and professional wins and losses, of tragedy and triumph, all coupled with his deep religious faith.
No spoilers here for those who may not know the backstory, but the Tampa Bay area, the Buccaneer’s team, and then later another town, another team, and the Super Bowl game, all feature into that slice of history. With the Tampa locale and team once again in this year’s Super Bowl lineup, this could be a good time to check out the memoir written by the winning head coach of Super Bowl XLI.
The book also brought to my mind a recent work by Admiral James Stavridis, “Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character,” which explores two often conflated traits: leadership and character.
I first heard of the book during this outstanding PBS interview with Admiral Stavridis and NPR’s host Melissa Block, in which they discuss the important distinction between those personal qualities (leadership and character) along with the Stavridis’s choices for the ten historic Admirals he highlights in the book.
The retired 4-star Naval officer and former Supreme Allied Commander of the NATO Alliance writes, “The voyage of character is the most important journey each of us ever make.” He continues, “Leadership is broadly understood as the ability to influence others, generally to accomplish a specific purpose…Character, on the other hand, is about internal effect and the ability to influence oneself.”
Reflecting on these various traits, along with sportsmanship, I had long assumed the age-old adage about winning, losing, and playing the game was one of those timeless sayings of unknown origin, but the credit goes to the 20th century sportswriter and broadcaster, Henry Grantland “Granny” Rice, whose exact words were, “For when the One Great Scorer comes To write against your name, He marks-not that you won or lost- But how you played the game.”
And THAT ever more remains excellent food for thought and deed.
Speaking of food, grab some spicy chicken wings, nachos, chili, or whatever your favorite Super Bowl food fetish may be and enjoy the game. Or perhaps, if you prefer, enjoy a good book!
Post-Script: By the next evening, Mom had moved things on to a first name friendship with the legendary coach, and is now saying, “I like Tony!” Before sharing this, I read it to her. She laughed out loud, said it was great, and gave it her blessing.