TAMPA — In a previous life, Tony Dungy impulsively — almost petulantly — quit football.

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Prior to his senior season at Parkside High in Jackson, Mich., Dungy and his best friend were strong candidates to be elected captains on a team that never previously had two African-American captains. Dungy was elected. His buddy wasn’t.

"So I’m sure, I’m positive, that this is racism," Dungy said Thursday evening from the stage of The Crossing Church on Tampa’s eastern fringe. "I believe the coach doesn’t count the votes right because the school doesn’t want two black captains."

So Dungy walked. His dad, one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen in World War II, objected but let his son make up his own mind. Then Dungy’s junior high assistant principal caught wind of what occurred.

"He said, ‘Even if that’s true, why would you let someone else take away something from you that you enjoy doing?’" Dungy recalled. "And if it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t be sitting here today."

The moral of Dungy’s anecdote — meet in the middle of the racism issue for thought and discussion instead of standing defiantly in one corner — was at the crux of Thursday night’s "Under Our Skin" forum on race and faith.

The Christian-themed event, moderated by ESPN anchor Sage Steele, attracted a handful of prominent sports names as well as a live crowd of roughly 400 and a live-stream audience. Many panelists cited Scripture when discussing solutions to the nation’s ongoing issue with racial strife.

Dungy pointed to Christianity’s "greatest commandment" (loving others as yourself).

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