Fans are not pleased with former Pittsburgh Steelers player and Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy after he used Damar Hamlin to push an anti-abortion agenda during a March of Life in Washington, D.C.
Dungy spoke to a crowd during the march this past weekend and used former Pitt Panthers star and Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin as an example in his speech to preach against abortion.
"An unbelievable thing happened that night," Dungy said. "A professional football game with millions of dollars of ticket money and advertising money on the line, that game was canceled. Why? Because a life was at stake, and people wanted to see that life saved. Even people who are not necessarily religious got together and called on God… that’s exactly why we’re here today. Because every day in this country, innocent lives are at stake. The only difference is they don’t belong to a famous athlete and they’re not seen on national TV. But those lives are still important to God in God’s eyes."
His speech wasn't met with many positive remarks. Fans across social media blasted the former coach's reference of Hamlin, calling for Dungy to be fired from NBC Sports.
"This is vile, disrespectful to Damar Hamlin/ his family and quite frankly wildly out of order,” political analyst SiriusXM political analyst Ameshia Cross tweeted. "@TonyDungy crossed the line repeatedly, but this might be the grossest attempt at flying into the culture wars. I’ll give it to the Repubs they always find a Black man to carry the water."
Dungy has never hid his religious beliefs and has been under fire for some of his views in the past few days.
In response to a tweet of a Minnesota bill that would require menstrual products to be placed in boys bathrooms at schools, Dungy responded before deleting his tweet.
"That’s nothing,” the coach responded by writing. “Some school districts are putting litter boxes in the school bathrooms for the students who identify as cats. Very important to address every student’s needs."
Now, those who work with Dungy have shared their support for who he is outside of a few remarks.
Dungy spent just the 1977-1978 season with the Steelers as a player, but returned to the team from 1981-1988 as a defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator.
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