Legendary NFL Coach Asked Himself This Question, and It Changed His Life

Published: January 27, 2026

By Mallory Mattingly

Former NFL coach and current NFL broadcaster Tony Dungy learned one of the most valuable lessons of his life when he first entered the NFL.

“When I didn’t get drafted, I had to pray and say, ‘What am I doing? Lord, what are you doing with me?’ And then when I got to Pittsburgh, I got around all these guys who said, ‘This is the most important thing,” Dungy began to explain to Sport Spectrum’s Matt Forte. “Our coach, Chuck Noll was the same way. ‘Don’t put all your eggs in the football basket. Make sure you get satisfaction in other ways. We want you to be community servants. We want you to be good husbands and good fathers.’ And he demonstrated that for us.”

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“And then one of the key moments for me, Matt, we had a chapel service, and Tony Evans was the speaker, and he talked about being a Christian all the time,” the former coach recalled. “He said, ‘When you see me up here giving the message, you expect to hear certain things, because I’m the chapel speaker. Well, guess what? When I leave here and I go get in my car and start driving, I’m a Christian driver, and when I get home, I’m a Christian husband, and when I go shopping, I’m a Christian shopper. And my point is, I’m a Christian all the time. Christian first, whatever I do.'”

The preacher asked poignant questions: “How about you? Are you a Christian all the time?”

“And I’m sitting there as a young guy and saying, ‘Yeah, I’m a Christian in this chapel service, and I’m a Christian, you know, in the Bible studies, I’m a Christian in church. But am I a Christian all the time?’ And that’s when it really changed for me. And I got to the point where I said, ‘Lord, I want to represent you, whatever it is I’m doing,'” Dungy said.

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Dungy played in the NFL for three years on defense in three different positions. starting in 1977. However, his playing career was cut short after the New York Giants released him. Shortly after, Pittsburgh hired Dungy as a coach, and he decided to pursue a career in coaching. He went on to be one of the greatest coaches the NFL has ever seen. In 2016, Dungy was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Though he only played for three years in the NFL, Dungy knew it was God’s plan for his life. Now, he sits serves as broadcaster for the NFL.

But regardless of his role in life, Dungy strives to be a Christian first.

“I didn’t know my playing career was going to be cut short and I’d soon be coaching. But then I became a Christian coach, and for 27 years, that was my goal, to be a Christian coach, and now I’m a broadcaster,” he told Sports Spectrum. “My goal is to be a Christian broadcaster, and I learned that from Tony Evans very early on, Christian first in whatever you do you.”

As Christians, we should ask ourselves the same question as Dungy: “Are you a Christian all the time?”

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