Son of Colts' Tony Dungy found dead

[riverside sluggers]

Its breaking news on ESPN's cold pizza that Dungy's 18 year old son has been found dead. I'll relay more details as they are brought forward.

 

Wow I cant even imagine what Tony Dungy is going through right now.

 

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Dungy's son found dead

FOXSports.com

Posted: 2 minutes ago

 

James Dungy, the 18-year-old son of Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, was found dead in his apartment in Tampa, Fla. on Thursday morning, according to a radio broadcast report. Tony Dungy has left the team for Tampa. The Colts, meanwhile, are scheduled to play at the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night.

[schillingouttheks]

I just saw this on ESPN. Even though I hate the Colts more than anything, what Dungy has been able to do is absolutely amazing. He is well-respected by any fan with a brain, and my condolences go to his family. I cannot even imagine...

 

Thoughts are with you Tony.

[riverside sluggers]

Son of Colts' coach Tony Dungy found dead in Florida apartment

By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer

December 22, 2005

 

LUTZ, Fla. (AP) -- 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. The Colts (13-1) are at Seattle on Saturday, and team president Bill Polian said that assistant head coach Jim Caldwell has taken over for Dungy.

 

Indianapolis lost its first game Sunday against the visiting San Diego Chargers, ending what had been a perfect season. "The thoughts and prayers of everyone in this building are with Tony and (wife) Lauren, their children and their extended family, and for the repose of James' soul," Polian said at a news conference at the Colts' training facility in Indianapolis. "This is a tragedy for the Dungy family and by extension his football family here with the Colts."

 

Owner Jim Irsay and Polian met with team officials and players to break the news. "It was not easy, and it was somber, to say the least," Polian said. Caldwell will take over "for however long Tony will be away and however long he will be away is entirely up to him," Polian added. Chaplains were brought in to talk with the team. "I don't think there's anyone here that would wish to play a football game under these circumstances, but it's our obligation and we'll fulfill that obligation because that's what Tony wants us to do," Polian said.

 

The Dungys have four other children: daughters Tiara and Jade and sons Eric and Jordan. James, their second-oldest 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. A woman who answered the door at James Dungy's girlfriend's home declined comment Thursday.

 

James stood 6-foot-7 and was sometimes was 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 sidelines, but they had to earn it by doing well in school. 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. I know the prayers of the National Football League go out to him and his family."

 

Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said the team's thoughts and prayers were going out to Dungy. "You hate to see anything like this happen," Reid said. "Nobody likes to see that. Tony's a great person with a great family." 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 took over as coach of the Colts in 2002. His first head coaching stint was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2001; he was an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings from 1992 to 1995. 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.

[Soxfan1]

Thats horrible. This shakes him mentally but thats not what is important. My condolences to the Dungy family.

[GabeKaplerluver19]

this is really sad!!!!!!!!!!!

[stocker323]

Cause of death is apparently a suicide according to WEEI. Very sad.

[GabeKaplerluver19]

Cause of death is apparently a suicide according to WEEI. Very sad

 

that's wicked sad. there was a kid that did suicide in my town 'cause his girl friend broke up with him and then his dad found him in the freezer of there pizza place and his dad had a small heart attach. i hate suicide!

[yankeessuck013]

This is horrible. Tony Dungy is truly one of the quiet, classy guys in the NFL. Let's keep his family in our thoughts.

 

Definately the worst thing I could imagine happening to someone. I'm pulling for the Colts now. My heart goes out to the Dungy's.

 

If they didnt deserve a Super Bowl before they sure do now.

[jsinger121]

our prayer's go out to the entire dungy family

[YanksHater213]

This is horrible. Tony Dungy is truly one of the quiet, classy guys in the NFL. Let's keep his family in our thoughts.

 

Definately the worst thing I could imagine happening to someone. I'm pulling for the Colts now. My heart goes out to the Dungy's.

 

If they didnt deserve a Super Bowl before they sure do now.

Whoa whoa whoa, they deserve a Super Bowl because his son is dead? Haha, thats pretty much the funniest thing I've ever heard.

 

I feel for Dungy and his family, but you dont cross the death of his son with the Colts playing football, it aint right.

[Soxfan1]

Whoa whoa whoa, they deserve a Super Bowl because his son is dead? Haha, thats pretty much the funniest thing I've ever heard.

 

I feel for Dungy and his family, but you dont cross the death of his son with the Colts playing football, it aint right.

This has nothing to do with football. This is a truly sad event and should not be mixed in with the fact that Tony Dungy is the coah of the colts.

[yankeessuck013]

Whoa whoa whoa, they deserve a Super Bowl because his son is dead? Haha, thats pretty much the funniest thing I've ever heard.

 

I feel for Dungy and his family, but you dont cross the death of his son with the Colts playing football, it aint right.

 

No you got me wrong man. I was trying to say that its gonna be like one of those inspirational things to win it for him. Like MJ when his dad died or Favre and that monday night game after his dad passed.

[YanksHater213]

Well, I guess if anything you used the wrong word in deserved. Maybe it lit the fire in his team?

[riverside sluggers]

heavy stuff

 

911 call: Dungy's son used belt to hang himself

Associated Press

Posted: 15 hours ago

 

TAMPA - The son of Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy used a belt to hang himself from a ceiling fan, according to the 911 call the teen's girlfriend made when she found him last month. Antoinette Anderson returned to James Dungy's apartment after a 10-minute walk early Dec. 22 to find him apparently lifeless, according to tapes released Wednesday. The tape is the first public indication how James Dungy, 18, killed himself.

"I think my boyfriend's dead," an anguished Anderson told an emergency dispatcher. "I think he tried to hang himself or something."

 

She told the dispatcher she had used a knife to cut James Dungy down and that his roommate was asleep in another room. "Get the roommate up," the dispatcher told Anderson. "You're gonna need some help here, OK?" Anderson is then heard telling the roommate, whose name has not been released, "I think he's dead, like for real. And I'm on the phone with 911." The two tell the dispatcher Dungy isn't moving. The dispatcher tells them how to perform CPR as Anderson cried.

 

"Force two deep breaths of air into the lungs just like you're blowing up a big balloon," the dispatcher said. "Did you do that?"

 

"Yes," Anderson said. "I just don't think he's alive."

 

"Did you feel air going in?" the dispatcher asked.

 

Anderson replied, "No. No."

 

A Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy soon arrived and took over the CPR. A paramedic crew took Dungy to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The local medical examiner has called the death an apparent suicide, but has refused to give an exact cause pending results of toxicological tests that should be ready in about a month. On Oct. 21, James Dungy was treated after overdosing on painkillers. Then, he calmly told a 911 dispatcher he "was just being stupid" and had taken about 18 pills. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

 

James Dungy had moved back to the Tampa area from Indianapolis last year to attend college. His father had coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996 to 2001. Tony Dungy missed one game after his son's death, returning to the Colts' sideline last Sunday. The Colts, the top seed in the AFC, open the playoffs Jan. 15 in Indianapolis.

[YankeeDoodle]

At his son's funeral, Dungy talked labout how James looked forward to standing on the sidelines in Detroit with him. That had to make an impression on the Colts' players.