It is not stretching it to declare that the National Football League has a little less class than it had yesterday, and the city of Tampa has a little bit more. Tony Dungy retired from his head coaching position at the Indianapolis Colts and professional football and is moving to Tampa to make his prison missionary pursuits his foremost task. The NFL’s loss is Tampa’s great gain.

Dungy and wife Lauren have had a romance with Tampa since they came here in 1996 for him to head coach the Buccaneers, which he did through 2001. They bought a home they have kept, raised some kids, and after he was fired by the Glazer family he took the head job with the Colts. He won a Super Bowl there, which he did not do in Tampa, but successor Jon Gruden did with a team largely assembled by Dungy.

While in Tampa, Dungy and Lauren immersed themselves even more in their Christian involvement, in prison missionary work with Tampa’s own Rev. Abe Brown, retired pastor of the College Hill Baptist Church. The Reverend Abe, as he is known to friends and parishioners, played four years of both-way football at center-linebacker for the late, great Jake Gaither at Florida A&M, coached well (won the state title of his time at Lake City) at Blake High here and saved countless souls with his preaching in a rich, deep bass voice that so moved those who heard him, like me.

“I looked out there one day in the congregation and saw Coach Dungy,” Abe said. “I knew he was a Christian man. He came to me after the service and we visited. They came often. They took their kids to Idlewild, that big impressive church in north Tampa where they live.

“But Tony and his wife stayed with Bethel and Tony got interested in our prison crusade,” long a mission of Rev. Abe’s as well. “Tony impressed particularly those in trouble. He could talk to them. He is good. They were better because of him. It does not surprise me that Coach Dungy says he will come to Tampa and work with the incarcerated. I’m glad. We can use more new citizens like him.”

And how good is it to see a man of Dungy’s high position, and record, like a Super Bowl victory, and the author of a best-selling book titled “Quiet Strength”? A long-time theme, emphasizing faith, giving up the spotlight and the big money (guess he has enough anyway) to enter missionary work. He has got to admire Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and family for their Philippine missions.

Dungy, however, is not a 24-hours-a-day Christian, nor opposed to relaxation, or, learning to relax. Angler-baker Phil Alessi, Publix Exec Barney Barnett, and Capt. Scott Moore have seen to it Dungy learned to fish the flats to the south. I was shocked when he said his first offseason he had never fished — ever. But he would like it, he thought.

Now, I have reported this before, but for the newborns, or absentees, this past spring we lunched beneath the Skyway, about the same crowd, and Dungy, with his big soulful eyes locked on me and said: “I don’t think I ever told you, but when you called me about today, you said, ‘Bring a hat, nothing more. We will meet at the Alessi bakery on Columbus at 6 a.m. and pick up lunches, fishing gear, Phil and Barney, and a half dozen Cubans. Phil will drive us to Anna Maria Beach where Capt. Scott will meet us with the boat, and live bait, and fishing tackle and we’ll be off to catch reds, snook and trout’,” Dungy went on.

“And we did and here we are and I want to tell you, I had never heard of these sandwiches called Cubans before. Until Phil got them at the bakery, I said to myself, ‘that must be a big boat they got if they have Cubans to row, or man the boat.”

It did not take Dungy long to learn to cast. He hooked us all a couple of times. We caught plenty of fish, keeping only the legits to eat by whoever wanted them — like me and Barney. Dungy — I think it was this trip — also caught a big, troublesome cobia that as is their way flopped around so strongly some of us had to move up the mast to avoid the flinging tail or head. Finally, we got him back overboard to freedom, we and the six Cubans.

Tony will soon be on the phone and we’ll soon be with Barney, Phil and Capt. Scott after the big snook about to come back into season.

As The Rev. Abraham Brown declared, “We’ve always got room for a Tony Dungy to move back down here where he belongs.”