National Football League

More than X's and O's: Dungy, wife pen 4th children's book

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:43 p.m. ET

Tony Dungy was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in part because of his contributions to football as a whole.

Yes, he was a player on a Super Bowl champion in Pittsburgh and then won an NFL title as a coach with Indianapolis. But so much more than the game defines Dungy.

He's been a go-to adviser for players and executives. He's a top-level analyst on NBC's Sunday night broadcasts. Dungy is heavily involved in charity and diversity work.

Plus, he's an author.

Dungy and his wife, Lauren, just penned their fourth book in a children's series. This one is titled "Carson Chooses Forgiveness," and it follows "We Chose You," which focuses on adoption; "Maria Finds Courage," and "Austin Plays Fair," which are self-explanatory.

"My wife and I are peewee coaches and things come up," Dungy says, "and we try to walk the young players through different situations.

"In 'Carson Chooses Forgiveness,' one guy hogs the ball and won't pass it. Will he try to embrace this guy or shut him down and keep the team divided? There's a very good message for kids and parents that sometimes we have to help kids through those life lessons."

The Dungys were inspired to write way back when Tony was coaching; he retired after the 2008 season.

"Lauren and other wives would go in (to schools and libraries) and read and emphasize how important reading is," Dungy says. "She said, 'We can't find a lot of books with a real good message or with diversity.' They were reading in the city schools and there were no African-American characters or Hispanic characters, and so that was when we thought of doing different kinds of kids and people in the books."