Colts Coach Dungy's son, 18, found dead in Tampa suburb

[Janice]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2268593

Dungy's son, 18, found dead in Tampa suburb


TAMPA, Fla. -- James Dungy, the 18-year-old son of Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, was found dead in a Tampa-area apartment, police said Thursday.

No foul play is suspected, but a cause of death won't be announced pending an autopsy, said Vida Morgan, a secretary in the Hillsborough County sheriff's office.

James Dungy's girlfriend found him when she returned to the Campus Lodge Apartments in Lutz, Fla., the sheriff's office said in a news release on its Web site. Police responded at 1:32 a.m. Thursday and performed CPR on Dungy before he was taken to University Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Tony Dungy has left the Colts and is in Tampa. Assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell will lead the team while Dungy is gone, the Colts said.

The Colts (13-1) are at Seattle on Saturday; Indianapolis lost its first game Sunday against the visiting San Diego Chargers, ending what had been a perfect season.

The coach and his wife, Lauren, have four other children: daughters Tiara and Jade, and sons Eric and Jordan. James, their eldest child, was taking extension classes at the University of South Florida, Morgan said.

James Dungy spent his senior year at North Central High School in Indianapolis and graduated this year. C.E. Quandt, the school's principal, said Dungy was a personable student who never flaunted his father's position.

"He just came in and tried to blend in and be a student," Quandt said. "I liked James a lot."

Quandt said Dungy visited North Central a week or two ago to pick up a transcript. He said the death surprised and saddened everyone at the school.

"It kind of diminishes our school family," he said.

James stood 6-foot-7 and was sometimes mistaken for one of his father's players, The Indianapolis Star reported on its Web site. James and his younger brother, Eric, sometimes watched Colts games from the sideline, but they had to earn it by doing well in school.

Fans posted prayers and messages of support for Dungy, who also coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on a message board on a Colts fan Web site.

"Not only was he a great football coach for the Bucs, but he is an even better person," one Tampa Bay fan wrote. "It makes me sick that it happened at this time of year to a person that is so giving and caring."
Dungy was an assistant coach with the Minnesota Vikings from 1992 to 1995, before he became Tampa Bay's head coach.

He began coaching in 1980, as defensive backs coach at the University of Minnesota, his alma mater. He was quarterback for the Gophers from 1973-1976.

[TVFactFan]

aww man what a horrible tradegy for the Dungy Family right before Christmas.

[Dutabi84]

I just heard this, too.. what a horrible thing to have happen this time of year.

[vashti1999]

To go from the high of the great season his team had to now have to deal with the death of his son, that's a horrible tragedy for Tony Dungy and his family.

[Janice]

James Dungy stands on the sidelines near his father,
Colts coach Tony Dungy, in Oct. 2004.

[theshark8777]

LUTZ, Fla. (AP) -- The Indianapolis Colts' near-perfect season was plunged into sadness when the news came that coach Tony Dungy's eldest son was found dead of an apparent suicide.

"Everybody said a team prayer for Coach Dungy and his family," quarterback Peyton Manning said. "It's laying on the hearts of all the players here today."

James Dungy, the 18-year-old who became a fixture around the teams his father coached and was often mistaken for a player because of his towering size, was found dead in a Tampa-area apartment early Thursday.

His girlfriend returned to the Campus Lodge Apartments at about 1:30 a.m. and found him unresponsive, Hillsborough County Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. Carter said evidence at the scene indicated he had killed himself.

A sheriff's deputy performed CPR before an ambulance took him to University Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Tony Dungy took the team plane from Indianapolis to Tampa, Fla., where he had coached the Buccaneers from 1996 to 2001. He left his team with instructions befitting their ever-steady leader: Keep playing.

"He's an amazing individual with great strength and integrity, even in the toughest times," assistant head coach Jim Caldwell, who will take over in Dungy's absence, said after Thursday's practice. "He told us to carry on as usual."

The Colts (13-1) travel to Seattle for a game Saturday, and team president Bill Polian said Caldwell will lead the team "for however long Tony will be away, and however long he will be away is entirely up to him."

The Seahawks took a knee on the practice field in Kirkland, Wash., on Thursday and bowed their heads for a moment of silence. Seattle coach Mike Holmgren acknowledged that it will be somewhat awkward to coach against the Colts with all they are suddenly enduring.

"Yeah, it is, but we must separate that," he said. "We still have a lot at stake. We must be able to do that. So that is what we are going to do."

Dungy is immensely popular around the league and known for his soft-spoken style and commitment to balancing family life with football -- a rare trait in NFL coaches. He shared the blame when Indianapolis lost its first game Sunday against the visiting San Diego Chargers, ending what had been a perfect season.

"It certainly keeps things in perspective," Manning said. "Players with families, it certainly hits home. Coach Dungy's close to a lot of these players. ... Players feel close to him as well as his family."

The Dungys have four other children: daughters Tiara and Jade and sons Eric and Jordan. James Dungy spent his senior year at North Central High School in Indianapolis and graduated this year.

C.E. Quandt, the school's principal, said Dungy was a personable student who never flaunted his father's position, and had recently visited North Central. He said the death surprised and saddened everyone at the school.

Indianapolis Colts assistant head coach Jim Caldwell gives instructions as the team practiced in Indianapolis Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. Head coach Tony Dungy's son, James Dungy, 18, was found dead in a Tampa-area apartment, police said Thursday. Caldwell will lead the team in Dungy's absence.
AP - Dec 22, 2:25 pm EST
More Photos
"It kind of diminishes our school family," he said.

A woman who answered the door at James Dungy's girlfriend's home declined comment Thursday. Jessica James, 18, who described herself as a close friend, said she and a group of friends went to the movies with Dungy on Monday night.

"He was cracking jokes, just being himself," she said. "This morning, it was so surreal."

She said Dungy "was just a really good kid, very laid-back. Unless you asked him, you'd never know he was Tony Dungy's son."

The mood was somber Thursday at the Buccaneers' practice facility, located near the airport where the Colts' plane that brought Tony Dungy to Florida was parked. Players and coaches could see the plane from the practice field.

"It shakes you, there's no doubt about it. Tony and I first came together in 1992 and I got to see the boy grow up. ... Tony's got tremendous faith, and that's what will carry Tony through," said Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who worked for Dungy at Tampa Bay.

James Dungy was a frequent visitor to the Bucs' practices and games when his father coached the team.

"He was here all the time, hanging out in the locker room and with the players on the field," fullback Mike Alstott said. "If James wasn't here, it was like: `Where's James?' He was part of this football team."

New York Jets coach Herman Edwards, one of Dungy's closest friends, called James a "very, very good kid.

"The whole family is good people. You know Tony, how he raised a family," Edwards said from Jets training camp in Hempstead, N.Y. "A tragedy."

Two other NFL head coaches lost close family members this season, both in November. Don Parcells, brother of Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, died of brain cancer in New Jersey at age 62; Steve Belichick, father of New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick, died at 86.

Associated Press Writers Cliff Brunt in Indianapolis and Mitch Stacy in Tampa, Fla.,; and AP Sports Writers Andrea Adelson in New York and Mike Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report

[Janice]

This is just terrible. Suicide only compounds the grief. Prayers to the Dungy family.

[Brian Damage]

What a horrible tragedy. The worst thing in the world has got to be a parent losing a child. Absolutely heartbreaking.

[Dumballa]

I hope Tony is able to, one day, return to coaching.

[D.J.]

This is a real shame. I'm sure in a few days, we will have more information. My condolences go out to the Dungy family as well as friends and Colts fans. 18 years old is way too young. I don't understand why Dungy would commit suicide.