When justice comes around, it is often accompanied with a satisfying thump in the chest of the offender. Case in point:
In 2001, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired Tony Dungy because he wasn’t able to get the Bucs to the Superbowl. The owners, the Glazer Family, felt that Dungy couldn’t get it done, so they brought in Jon Gruden for the 2002 season. Dungy went to Indianapolis and with a young quarterback named, Peyton Manning, took a team that had gone 6 and 10 the year before to 10 and 6. The Colts have never looked back.
On the other hand, Gruden took Dungy’s Tampa Bay team to the Super Bowl in 2002 and have been a disappointment ever since. Gruden’s 2008 Bucs collapsed completely after starting off 9 and 3 and finishing 9 and 7. Even with this record, it was first time that Gruden had had consecutive winning seasons since he arrived at Tampa and other than the 2002 Superbowl run, he never had a play off victory there.
On Monday, Dungy retired from coaching and on Friday, Gruden was fired from Tampa Bay. That sound you hear is justice thumping, not Gruden, but the Glazer Family for firing Dungy in 2001. I’m sure Dungy is smiling, if not publicly, certainly privately. I know I am.