Dungy to be inducted into Bucs Ring of Honor

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Tony Dungy is already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor, and he's about to be enshrined into the Bucs Ring of Honor.

The team that gave him his first head coaching shot is also the team that fired him, but Dungy is a man with incredible faith.

He says he holds no resentment.

The Bucs held a news conference Tuesday to officially announce Dungy as the soon-to-be Ring of Honor member.

FOX 13 News asked Dungy how he hopes to be remembered when fans look up at his name inside Raymond James Stadium.

"I hope they remember me as someone who helped shape the course of the franchise," Dungy told FOX 13's Kevin O'Donnell. "[I hope they think I] got people excited about Tampa football again. I hope they remember me as a coach that had very good teams but had some great young men playing. That I tried to lead those young men in the right way and in the right direction. My focus wasn't just on winning games, but it was on being the best we could be on and off the field. If they think that I would be happy."

Dungy will be enshrined at Raymond James Stadium during a half-time ceremony on September 24 when the Bucs host the Steelers, the team Dungy began his NFL career with.

During his question-and-answer period with the media, Dungy touched on a variety of topics including Jameis Winston and his current situation.

"I look at it as something my dad would always tell me… with the same phrase, all the time: 'What are you doing to do now to make the situation better?'" Dungy said. "I think that's where we are, and that's where Jameis is. We can look back on it and debate why it happened and all the negatives, but it's where we are, and what does he have to do to now to be that leader on and off the field that the Buccaneers need?

"He has to figure that out. He has to mature. He has to make this negative situation and turn it into a positive. I saw some things on the field today that led me to believe that's what he's trying to do. Now he has to carry that off the field as well. It can be a positive."

He was also asked about how he would handle players' desire to protest the National Anthem.

"That's what gets lost in the dialogue. They're not trying to defame the flag," said Dungy. "They're not trying to defame the military or first responders. We can build a whole narrative about that, but that's not what they're trying to do.

"These guys see some things going on in their communities, and they're trying to make the situation better. We can debate whether they should do that or when they should do it, but these guys are very, very patriotic. They're doing it because they care."

So what would be Dungy's solution?

"If I were still coaching, my first meeting of the year, I would have them come to me and say 'What are your concerns? What's really on your mind? What do you want to say? What are your solutions?'" he said. "Then I'm going to give you 10 minutes of my press conference to get that out, so you won't have to use three minutes before the game when nobody can hear you. I'm going to give you the platform that you want to be a voice for those who don't have a voice."

It's been 22 years since the Glazers hired Dungy as their first coach and, while he's no longer coaching, Dungy remains a very influential figure in the fabric of the Bay Area community.