Tony Dungy: Matthew Stafford Needs Consistency Around Him To Be Great
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
Rodney Harrison, now an NBC analyst in his post-NFL career, made waves last week when he declared that the Lions don't respect Matthew Stafford. After Stafford took a late hit out of bounds from the Vikings' Anthony Barr on Sunday, Harrison said that not enough players came to his defense, except a "rookie lineman."
Harrison's NBC co-worker, Tony Dungy, now says that the team's reaction on the sideline – although "surprising" – doesn't show a lack of respect for Stafford in Detroit's locker room.
"He (Harrison) has his opinion, and he just felt like if it was Tom Brady that a lot of people would have been there," Dungy said. "I think he made the comment that he would have gotten the penalty. I don't advocate penalties. I do think the team showed some restraint. In either case, I don't think it has anything to do with whether the players respect Stafford or not. It's obvious that they do."
Although the video shows several players jumping to Stafford's defense, including Laken Tomlinson, Stephen Tulloch and even Brandon Pettigrew in street clothes, Dungy felt that it wasn't enough.
"I was a little surprised too that a lot more people didn't get in Barr's face," he said. "Again, I don't advocate penalties. I know Jim Caldwell didn't. I think it would have been very emotional on our sideline. Again, to me, it doesn't go back to how players respect their quarterback."
As far as respecting Stafford goes, Dungy is in his corner. He cited the fact that Stafford hasn't had much continuity in his career as reason why he hasn't fulfilled the lofty expectations he came into the league with.
The quarterback that Dungy coached for so long, Peyton Manning, had much more consistency surrounding him, and it's part of the reason why Manning is now considered one of the best-ever quarterbacks.
"The thing about Peyton you have to remember is he played for basically 13 years in the same offense with the same offensive coordinator, and for many of those years with the same receivers and backs and offensive line," Dungy said. "He was blessed with that continuity. I don't think Matthew has had that and you've seen some great years, numbers-wise."
To Dungy, a lot of the talk surrounding Stafford's failure to meet expectations (he was the first-overall pick in the 2009 draft) is similar to what Manning endured many years ago.
"A lot of the things they're saying about him, the same thing they said about Peyton early on in his career," Dungy said. "When I say early on, those first maybe eight, nine years. 'Oh, this guy puts up some great numbers, but hasn't translated it into playoff wins.' So, that's what they're going to have to have – some consistency and some wins in the playoffs before people are gonna recognize this guy is a pretty good quarterback."
