Colts return their focus to football after tragedy

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts got back to concentrating on football Friday.

Players laughed, joked and seemed more vibrant as they finished their last practice before heading to Seattle – a major change from Thursday’s near silence after they received word of the apparent suicide of coach Tony Dungy’s son.

The reminders, though, were everywhere.

Assistant head coach Jim Caldwell again ran practice while Dungy stayed in Tampa, Fla. In the team’s pavilion, players, coaches and Colts officials attended a morning memorial service.

No decision had been made on what, if anything, the Colts will wear or do today to honor 18-year-old James Dungy, who was found dead in a Florida apartment Thursday. But at least football was again part of the discussion.

“The great thing about it is that this team is a great reflection of its head coach; they emulate him to a ‘T’ in certain respects,” Caldwell said. “Especially when there’s some adversity and this is a very tough time.

“They’re professionals – when they take the field, they want to win. So it’s a matter of professional pride, and also our head coach expects us to go out and play hard.”

A preliminary autopsy report Friday indicated the teen took his life, but the exact cause of death won’t be released until a toxicology examination is finished in four to six weeks, the Hillsborough County medical examiner said.

The Tampa Tribune reported on its Web site Friday night that James Dungy had been involuntarily admitted to a hospital after seeking help from a deputy outside his apartment on Oct. 21, saying he had taken an overdose of painkillers and called for an ambulance, according to a sheriff’s report. The teen told Deputy Thomas Chavez that he was depressed, the sheriff’s report stated.