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Because I have had the privilege of fishing with Indianapolis Colts coach, Tony Dungy, on two occasions, and sat with him in small board meetings on a couple others, I am often asked what I think of him as a fisherman and person.  As we enter the most sacred weekend of the year for sports fans (super bowl weekend) - I thought it was time to finally go on record with my impressions of the coach, and a couple of other professional athletes with whom I have spent time outdoors.

 The first time I met Dungy was at a boat ramp in Indianapolis.  I had arranged for us to fish for small mouth bass in the White River.  I remember being nervous because I had fished the river the day before and hadn’t caught anything.  As a lifelong football fan, I was a bit star struck, but struggled to keep it to myself.  One of the things I have learned over the years, is that most celebrities appreciate people who don’t treat them as such.

 From the beginning, I was impressed with Dungy.  He entered my boat with his son, and immediately asked to help.  Though there was little to do other than get his gear ready, I found it refreshing that he was kind enough to ask.  On subsequent outings with a couple Colts linemen, I saw the uglier side of being a celebrity.

 Much to my distress, we fished that entire day without landing a single fish.  Not once did Dungy or his son complain or stop fishing.  Instead, they talked to each other, me, and a cameraman from the local newspaper.

 More important than his ability to pitch a tube jig, Dungy impressed me that day with his insight into human nature, and with his genuine humility.  He continued to reinforced those traits every time I saw him after that day.

 I recall asking him if he had any pearls of wisdom for a frustrated father whose daughter lacked aggressiveness on the basketball court.  Giving me full eye contact, as he always does, he told me that as a coach, aggressiveness is one of the hardest traits to teach a player.  He also told me that he believed some people were just born with it, and that some may just never get it.  I have found that insight to be quite accurate over the years.

 At a small meeting several months after our first fishing debacle, Dungy walked into the room and eventually made his way over to me.  He greeted me by my first name and made reference to our outing.  I was a bit stunned that he remembered the day, let alone my name. 

 The respect and humility that everyone sees in press conferences, sums up the kind of person and fisherman Dungy is every day.  What you see is what you get with him.  Sadly, not all professional athletes are humble, respectful or even nice.

 A couple years ago, I agreed to take a defensive lineman and an offensive lineman from the Colts to my duck hunting lease in southern Indiana for a day of shooting.  Because I am not a guide, I saw the outing as just a couple guys going hunting.  No compensation of any sort was exchanged.  I had only met the players incidentally prior to the hunt, so I didn’t know what to expect.

 We arrived at the property to find the area I wanted to hunt too flooded to access.  Both players immediately started complaining.  I talked them into setting up a spread of decoys in a nearby pothole since there were still ducks in the area.  They agreed and proceeded to find a comfortable spot on the edge of the water, and plopped down.  That left me to set up all the decoys.

 Though ducks were flying overhead at dawn, the majority of birds were clearly out of range.  That prompted more complaining.  Neither one ever looked me in the eye, hurling their insults at the sky.  Since I was the only other person there, however, it was clear they were displeased with me.

 As it turned out, both men were accustomed to hunting and fishing with high priced guides in situations that all but guaranteed action. When nature threw us a curve, as often happens in the real outdoors, they were besides themselves.  On the drive home, they reinforced what I later decided was arrogance, laziness and selfish behavior. Later that year, I fished with one of them for a magazine article and found that nothing had changed.

 It is inaccurate to say all, or even a majority of professionals athletes are arrogant and selfish.  Rather, what I have found over the years, is that for every pushy lineman, there are a couple more guys who fish and live life like Tony Dungy.