USA: AMERICAN FOOTBALL - Preparations for Super Bowl get underway including a historic first with black coaches leading each team

This year's Super Bowl will, for the first time, feature two black head coaches meeting in the NFL's premier game. A black head coach is guaranteed to lift the Vince Lombardi trophy for the first time once the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts have thrashed out the Super Bowl on Sunday. The Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith will face the Colts' Tony Dungy in an historic showdown between African American head coaches in the NFL title game. At Tuesday's frenzied media day activities, Dungy made a point of mentioning those who came before him but were never given a chance at the big job. "One of the reasons you need to talk about it is because of our history. Lovie and I both feel the same way. We got an opportunity and we're here on this big stage because we did get an opportunity. When I came into the league there were several African-American assistants that were already here. I think of Sherman Lewis, Jimmy Ray, Lionel Taylor, Emmett Thomas. Guys who were in the league when I came. They could have done the same thing but that opportunity never came," Dungy told reporters. Lovie Smith became the first black head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl when the Bears thumped the New Orleans Saints on Jan. 21 to win the NFC championship. A few hours later, Smith's good friend and mentor Dungy booked his trip to Miami when the Colts edged the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. As a result, for the first time in the Super Bowl's 41-year history, not one but two African American head coaches will hold the spotlight on one of the sporting world's biggest stages, marking a long overdue breakthrough for a league which still enforces a rule that requires teams with coaching vacancies to interview minority candidates. Despite the fact that more than 70 percent of NFL players are African American, few graduate to head coaching and front office positions. Challenged to improve its hiring practises after a study revealed a lack of minority hirings, the NFL formed a diversity committee and in 2002 introduced the Rooney Rule, named after Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney. The rule requires teams to interview at least one African American for every head coach position. In 2002, the NFL had just two black head coaches and when this season began their ranks had grown to seven. Two coaches, Oakland Raiders Art Shell and Arizona Cardinals Dennis Green were sacked at the end of the season but last week the Steelers offset some of those losses by hiring Mike Tomlin. However, despite the presence of two black head coaches in Super Bowl XLI there is a feeling much more work still lies ahead. The rest of the Bears and the Indianapolis Colts players endured the annual ritual of Media Day, fielding serious questions on Sunday's game and offbeat queries on just about anything. Bears quarterback Rex Grossman was asked if a movie was being filmed based on his life, who would he like to be in the starring role. On a serious note he was asked about how the pressure of the big game might affect his playing. "The pressure I feel the most is the pressure I put on myself and to play well for my teammates and coaches are the biggest things I feel pressure about," he told reporters. Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning, who owns several NFL passing records yet has been less than stellar in post-season play, was looking forward to Sunday's game. "We have come down here to win the game and that's the reason you work hard in March and April and May and June. It's not to play in the Super Bowl. It's to win the Super Bowl and that's been our goal and coach Dungy's goal since we got here," Manning said.

ITN Source | February 2, 2007

Tags:. .nfls. .bowls. .assistants. .historic. .began