Tony Dungy is not bitter, angry, upset, frustrated, bewildered or mad. The Hall of Fame coach is instead taking it in stride that he is among 27 people recently removed from the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s selection committee as part of sweeping changes.
“I served my time on the committee, I was glad to do it,” Dungy told USA TODAY Sports this week. "It was something that was important to me. I don’t mind not being on the committee. I know they’ve made decisions on how they want to do things and that’s fine.
“My suggestion to them would be to examine the process and don’t have three-, four- and five-person classes going forward, when we have more candidates in the mix. It doesn’t make sense to put less people in.”
Dungy, 70, the first Black coach
to win a Super Bowl and an inductee from the Hall’s Class of 2016, was arguably the most prominent member leaving the selection committee. He served six years as a voter. Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton has also left after 10 years on the committee, resigning before any decisions were made regarding his status. And Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian, who teamed with Dungy with the Indianapolis Colts, is also out after six years as a voter.
Four media members who served 30-plus years as selectors – Frank Cooney (33 years), John McClain (31), Tony Grossi (31) and Rick Gosselin (30) – were also removed. And Lisa Salters, the esteemed ESPN reporter, is done after six years on the committee.
In addition to reducing the size of the selection committee from 50 to 25 (plus three additional non-voting selectors), the hall also eliminated the seniors category – placing all former players in a single pool – and streamlined the voting process.
Although the Hall received a torrent of criticism earlier this year when six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick wasn’t selected in his first year on the ballot – prompting Hall of Fame director Jim Porter to declare there would be an examination of the process – it is also true that officials contemplated changes before the Belichick omission.
Disclosure: I’ve been a member of the selection committee for 29 years.
In Dungy’s case, the Hall of Fame coach won’t publicly reveal how he voted for any of the candidates and was careful not to criticize the committee or hall administrators.
In other words, he doesn’t want to come off as sour grapes.
“I’m not bitter or upset or anything about not being on,” Dungy said. “They asked for my time on the committee, I did it, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t easy, but it was something I felt good about doing.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tony Dungy says he's 'not bitter' about losing Hall of Fame vote | Exclusive
