Dungy Was Always Bigger Than the Game, in the Best Way Possible

A lot of times in professional sports, coaches and players are completely measured by their performances on the field -- any extracurricular qualities are buried beneath wins and losses, at least until they retire and people take a reflective look at the whole picture.

So I guess the most complimentary thing that I can say about Tony Dungy, who officially retired from the Colts today, is that his on-the-field accomplishments always went hand-in-hand with his phenomenal reputation.

With Dungy, there was never any need to question his impact on a team's psyche, or his relationship with the players. You never had to worry about him flying off the handle at a press conference, or embarrassing his franchise with some offseason debauchery.

Obviously, it helped the overall cause that Dungy won a lot -- at least during the regular season -- so there wasn't much need to nitpick reasons for him to leave town.