A 'first' at last, but we have barriers yet to break

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

What better way to kick off Black History Month this year than with the historic Super Bowl XLI?

Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy became the latest "first," destined to join the ranks of journalists Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass and other black icons honored when February rolls around in the future.

The first black National Football League coach to win the ultimate prize in America's favorite game, Dungy thanked those who ran the racial obstacle course before him to get to the top of the heap.

"I need to dedicate this to guys who came before me, good coaches who could have done this had they gotten the opportunity. It feels good to represent the guys who paved the way," Dungy said after the Colts' 29-17 win over the Chicago Bears in Miami on Sunday.

Here we are again, elated once again that a black man proved to be the best. This time he was honored for his thinking acumen, not singing or dancing or running down a field or court, as has been the case so often in the past.

And the icing on the cake is that the consolation prize went to another black man, Dungy's friend and protege, Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears.

Football Hall of Famer Willie Wood, a native Washingtonian who played in the first two Super Bowls as a safety for the Green Bay Packers, said yesterday, "as a player, I couldn't even fathom this happening."

Mr. Wood, 71, said he was cheering for both coaches because "there was no way any of us could have lost, no matter who won." He likened the two head coaches to "civil rights guys without the rap."

When he was playing in the NFL, Mr. Wood said that there were blacks who could have been head coaches, and Sunday's historic game of "firsts" was "long overdue."

Though he starred as a quarterback at the University of Southern California, no NFL team drafted him.