Tony Dungy, Mentor to All Troubled Players, Becomes Their Go-Between to the League Office

Tony Dungy has become the de facto spiritual advisor to what seems like every troubled figure in the NFL. He's even doing it with college football coaches now as well. With that in mind, he would have to be a natural fit to start a group where players can express their concerns about the direction of league policy and have them communicated to higher-ups.

That, well, that's just what's happening. Dungy has been tabbed to head the Players Advisory Forum, which has already brought veterans Brian Dawkins and Ray Lewis on board to assist with arranging meetings.

The Player Advisor Forum grew from the Player Advisory Council that Goodell implemented in 2006 along with the NFL Players Association. The main difference is that Dungy will arrange the meetings, identify the players to be invited and develop the topics to be discussed. Some of the subjects that Goodell and Dungy would like to be broached have already been identified: player health and safety, personal conduct, game rules and procedures, career transition and player development.

Dungy will expand or streamline those topics per the respective meetings, in part by leaning on players from across the league like Lewis and Dawkins. Goodell will attend all the meetings. The NFLPA has been extended an invitation to attend all sessions as well.

Increased communication is never a bad thing, so it's difficult to find a down side to this development. With Dungy and Lewis involved, two figures who have constantly been name-checked by players around the league as having been a positive spiritual influence on them, the chances that players take the forum seriously look to be substantial right out of the gate.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.