# Tony Dungy is a loathsome charlatan **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355 "2010-01-10T03:10:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/21 "2010-01-10T07:25:27Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > So, his family is his own business, it has nothing to do with you and you need to butt out. Even though his primary career right now is dispensing advice on how I should raise my own family? It’s as ridiculous as [a fat divorced man telling me how to lose weight and save my marriage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_McGraw). ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/22 "2010-01-10T07:44:17Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > Even though his primary career right now is dispensing advice on how I should raise my own family? It’s as ridiculous as [a fat divorced man telling me how to lose weight and save my marriage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_McGraw). Has he specifically contacted you? Has he dispensed advice on that subject to you in person? Don’t watch him if you don’t like him. He may be giving advice that other people find useful. The world doesn’t revolve around you. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/23 "2010-01-10T08:24:27Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > He is a charlatan because he is a spokesman for “family values,” particularly in these radio spots that air every day, but he was so incompetent at participating in his own family that his son committed suicide. Eighty years ago the ‘family values’ crowd wanted to live in a world where black people could not rise above the rank of shoe shine boy. The KKK was very pro-family values. Family values is code for terror of diversity. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/24 "2010-01-10T08:32:04Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Has he specifically contacted you? Has he dispensed advice on that subject to you in person? Don’t watch him if you don’t like him. He may be giving advice that other people find useful. The world doesn’t revolve around you. Devil’s advocate: what if that advice is “homosexuality is an abomination before God, and those who practice it are evil or in need of special therapy”? If it’s causing that kind of misery, why can’t **Condescending Robot** care about it and fight against it? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/25 "2010-01-10T14:00:08Z")
If he provides thoughtful football commentaries, his position on gay marriage is irrelevant. Unless, of course, he starts using that platform to further his political agenda, in which case I’d agree that it was loathsome. If he appears on talk radio shows and talks family values, then bully for him. A talk show is an appropriate venue for that. To me it’s akin to the network firing Frank Gifford for being caught in bed with a (real) charlatan. I don’t screen my sports commentators based on their politics or their personal lives. And it’s a dangerous and irresponsible mindset to start calling for their heads because we don’t agree with them on an issue completely unrelated to their job. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/26 "2010-01-10T14:29:52Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Yes. It’s an incorrect usage. > > Also, if you want to argue about gay marriage, go do it in MPSIMS or GD or whatever. This is a lame rant about a D-list celeb’s stance on an issue. There are plenty of people far more worthy of blame and scorn; the OP’s outrage over having to see Tony Dungee while watching football puts the rant squarely into eyeroll territory. Oh no! It’s not pit-worthy enough! Clutch the pearls! Douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/27 "2010-01-10T14:38:15Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > You know many folks in “alternative relationships” use an argument like “What I do in my bedroom is my business,” right? > > And you know many folks in the SSM movement use an argument like “Who I marry is my business,” right? > > So, his family is his own business, it has nothing to do with you and you need to butt out. When our patronizing automaton advocates passing laws and amending constitutions to prevent Mr. Dungy (of whose existence I was also blissfully unaware) from disowning his son, you will have made a valid comparison. Until then, not so much. Or, more briefly: **KIDNEYFAIL** ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/28 "2010-01-10T16:38:53Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > To me it’s akin to the network firing Frank Gifford for being caught in bed with a (real) charlatan. I don’t screen my sports commentators based on their politics or their personal lives. And it’s a dangerous and irresponsible mindset to start calling for their heads because we don’t agree with them on an issue completely unrelated to their job. So you’d be OK with, eg, David Duke or Fidel Castro calling games for your favorite baseball team? Wouldn’t impede your ability to enjoy the sporting event at all? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/29 "2010-01-10T16:43:10Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > If he provides thoughtful football commentaries, his position on gay marriage is irrelevant. Unless, of course, he starts using that platform to further his political agenda, in which case I’d agree that it was loathsome. If he appears on talk radio shows and talks family values, then bully for him. A talk show is an appropriate venue for that. > > To me it’s akin to the network firing Frank Gifford for being caught in bed with a (real) charlatan. I don’t screen my sports commentators based on their politics or their personal lives. And it’s a dangerous and irresponsible mindset to start calling for their heads because we don’t agree with them on an issue completely unrelated to their job. If he was talking about Family Values there would be no problem. What he is talking about is marginalizing a portion of society that he finds icky and supporting it with a bogus interpretation of some stupid book written thousands of years ago. In the end no gays will stop doing icky stuff, but they will be marginalized by the portion of society that thinks hate is a family value. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/30 "2010-01-10T17:18:27Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Has he specifically contacted you? Has he dispensed advice on that subject to you in person? Don’t watch him if you don’t like him. He may be giving advice that other people find useful. The world doesn’t revolve around you. When he goes on Fox News and lectures people about what kinds of relationships or families are or are not morally acceptable, and says that relationships he doesn’t like should not be legal, then he is talking specifically to everyone in the audience, and since when does advocating anti-gay legislation any kind of “advice?” > [@](#): > > You know many folks in “alternative relationships” use an argument like “What I do in my bedroom is my business,” right? > > And you know many folks in the SSM movement use an argument like “Who I marry is my business,” right? > > So, his family is his own business, it has nothing to do with you and you need to butt out. He doesn’t want to respect privacy, he wants to legislate against it. He doesn’t get to make himself a policeman for everyone else’s family, then cry about privacy when questions get asked about his own. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/31 "2010-01-10T17:26:32Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > If he provides thoughtful football commentaries, his position on gay marriage is irrelevant. Unless, of course, he starts using that platform to further his political agenda, in which case I’d agree that it was loathsome. If he appears on talk radio shows and talks family values, then bully for him. A talk show is an appropriate venue for that. > > To me it’s akin to the network firing Frank Gifford for being caught in bed with a (real) charlatan. I don’t screen my sports commentators based on their politics or their personal lives. And it’s a dangerous and irresponsible mindset to start calling for their heads because we don’t agree with them on an issue completely unrelated to their job. I don’t think his fitness to be a football analyst is compromised, and it doesn’t bother me to see him on NFL broadcasts, but I do wish he wasn’t held up as a paragon of virtue. His gay bashing activism really gets glossed over a lot. I don’t know what happened with his kid, but if he really disowned his own son for being gay, that bespeaks a cruelty, and zealotry and lack of authentic spiritualty that belies his public image. I don’t know that it’s true, though. It might not be. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/32 "2010-01-10T17:30:02Z")
You know who else had a son who committed suicide? Hitler’s mom. Tony Dungy, equal to or worse than Hitler’s mom. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/33 "2010-01-10T17:39:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > He had a son who committed suicide. I have no idea if the rumors are true that he did it because Dungy disowned him for being gay, but those are the rumors. If all they are are rumors, then shame on you for believing them and spreading them around. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/34 "2010-01-10T17:39:55Z")
Dungy’s son was still a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/35 "2010-01-10T17:41:02Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > If all they are are rumors, then shame on you for believing them and spreading them around. When did I say I believed them? I said three times that I didn’t know. I was just saying what they are. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/36 "2010-01-10T17:59:41Z")
My prediction? [spoiler]The whole thread will devolve into Dio saying “nuh uh” and someone else saying “did too!” until nobody but them even bothers reading it any longer. Example: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546508&page=3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546508&page=3) [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/37 "2010-01-10T18:12:24Z")
What am I sayin “nuh uh” about, asshole? If you have a problem with what I’m saying, have the balls to confront me straight on and say why. Don’t be a vagina. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/38 "2010-01-10T19:52:10Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > Someone so unconcerned with his own family that his teenage son committed suicide–which many believe was due to Dungy rejecting his son for being gay. Every single rumor I can find that James was gay was written by a third party who never met the kid and who had a prior hatred for Tony over his religious activism. Since the person who found the body was his girlfriend, (and 18 seems a bit young for a beard, although not impossible), I’m going to hold off joining in condemnation over a rumor that seems to have no basis beyond the hatred of one group for another. I have known several outstanding families who have suffered suicides and the idea that teen suicides are always, or even routinely, the result of parental pressure are loathesome falsehoods. Got evidence? Bring it back. Otherwise, you are simply letting your own antipathy to a particular person clutter up the Pit when we should be excoriating kitten lovers, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/39 "2010-01-10T19:59:56Z")
I’ve seen no solid evidence for the rumor either. What I can find seems to be of the “I know somebody who went to Jamie’s church” variety. Dungy doesn’t really bother me that much, but I wish he’ find a better use of his time and expression of his faith than going on Sean Hannity to bash same-sex marriage. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355/40 "2010-01-10T20:52:20Z")
So Tony is using his celebrity to advocate for a position he believes. Rosie O’Donnell is using her celebrity to advocate a position she believes in. Same same to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-dungy-is-a-loathsome-charlatan/524355.md?page=3)