Dat Nguyen with wife Becky.

Dat Tan Nguyen (born on September 25, 1975 in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas) is the first Vietnamese American to play in the National Football League. He played for the Dallas Cowboys and was later hired as their assistant linebackers and defensive quality control coach.

Background

His family left South Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, which led to the end of the Vietnam War, and he was born in a refugee center. He lived most of his childhood in the Gulf Coast town of Rockport, Texas. He married his college sweetheart Becky, and they have two daughters.

Biography

Nguyen battled the perception that he was too small to play linebacker for as long as he was involved in the game, despite his muscular 5″11″, 238 pound frame. As a college freshman, he was known as a “Fat” Dat, but added muscle and became an NFL prospect. Proving critics wrong at an early stage, he proceeded to leave Texas A&M University as the Aggies’ career record holder with 51 consecutive starts, 517 career tackles and a 10.7 tackles-per-game average. His 517 career tackles is currently an Aggie record.

In 1998, he was named an All-American and won the Bednarik Award as well as the Lombardi Award.

Despite such an illustrious collegiate career, the “undersized” criticism was still heard from NFL personnel.

Dat Nguyen during his Texas A&M days.

The Cowboys went ahead and drafted the most productive linebacker in Texas A&M history in the third round (85th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft. Nguyen made an impact with the Cowboys from the very beginning, leading the team in special-teams stops as a rookie and becoming Dallas’ starting middle linebacker in his second professional season. He would be a perfect fit for the Cowboys defensive scheme. Possessing great speed and range for a linebacker, he was a sideline to sideline defender able to transition seamlessly into Dallas’s version of 4-3 scheme defense. Slightly undersized by traditional standards for the Middle Linebacker position, he possessed tremendous form and excellent explosion at the point of attack. He was as adept at filling the gaps and stopping the run as he was in pass coverage.

In 2001, he completed his first full season as a starting NFL middle linebacker and silenced the critics by recording 112 tackles.

In 2003, with Nguyen leading the team in tackles, his Dallas Cowboys were the most effective defense in the NFL by a very wide margin; several interviews questioned his being left off the Pro Bowl roster. He was however selected 2nd team All-Pro by the Associate Press.

Dat Nguyen led the Dallas Cowboys in tackles during the 2003 season.

In May 2004, Nguyen was awarded a Golden Torch Award at the Vietnamese American National Gala in Washington, D.C.

He officially retired from the NFL on March 3, 2006, after a neck injury that hindered his 2005 performance failed to improve. Nguyen led the team in tackles three times, in 2001, 2003, and 2004, and amassed a stellar 516 tackles in seven seasons, despite missing half of two separate seasons to injury.

In February 2007, Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips announced the hiring of Nguyen as assistant linebackers coach / defensive quality control coach. Along with Phillips’ son Wes, Nguyen was the first assistant hired under Phillips.

Awards – High School and Collegiate

* All-State in high school as a punter
* All-American, consensus (1998)
* All Big-12 Conference Football – 1st team (1996-98)
* Big 12 Conference – 10th Anniversary Team (2005)
* Big 12 Conference – Defensive Player of the Year (1998)
* Chuck Bednarik Award – College Defensive Player of the Year (1998)
* Cotton Bowl – Defensive Player of the Game (1998)
* Dallas Morning News Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year (1998)
* Lombardi Award – Outstanding College Lineman (1998)
* Southwest Conference Defensive Newcomer of the Year (1995)
* Texas A&M Football Team MVP (1997)

Mountain Pointe senior Andy Nguyen is ranked as the top player in the state and could be going for his second singles championship this season.

By Larry Ward | Ahwatukee Foothills News

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – This is Andy Nguyen’s last season on a high school tennis court, and with the exception of Mountain Pointe, there aren’t any programs in the state of Arizona sorry about that.

The Pride senior has dominated the competition as a singles and doubles player the past three seasons and is currently the top rated player in the United States Tennis Association Southwest Section for his age division.

As a freshman Nguyen won the state doubles championship with Pride teammate Erik Sheldon, then joined a long line of Mountain Pointe players, including his brother, Dan, to win a state singles championship as a sophomore. He was the runner-up to Tucson Salpointe’s Cameron Ahari for the singles title last season.

Andy Nguyen practicing his swing.

Nguyen is seldom off the tennis court and was named the male Outstanding Juniors Player last season by the USTA Southwest Section last year.

He went into this season on a roll winning the Southwest Section Phoenix Junior and Mesa Spring Sweet 16 championships last month.

In both tournaments Nguyen defeated his juniors tennis doubles partner and Corona del Sol’s No. 1 player, Garret Dunn for the championship.

“This is a gentleman’s sport,” Mountain Pointe coach Dan Ray explained. “They can be friends off the court and competitive on, but Andy is playing very well right now.”

Mountain Pointe has come up with a strong newcomer in the second spot behind Nguyen this season.

Richie Snelling, a junior transfer from California, should give the Pride a solid player in that spot while senior Brandon Tse gets the third sport.

“Snelling is a very good player,” Ray added. “He had some ankle issues during the spring but he’ll compete in the No. 2 spot very well. And Brandon is going to be a good No. 3 player for us.”

Chad Vitlhana has moved up from his spot in the junior varsity last season to hold down the No. 4 spot followed by senior Tyler Petcher. Another senior, Joey Van Fretchen, rounds out the sixth player on the ladder.

“We should be pretty decent and competitive,” Ray said. “We’re strong in singles and we should be good in doubles.”

With Dunn leading the Corona team and Admad Saleem, ranked among the top 20 among 18 year-olds in the USTA Southwest Section, the Central Region should be one of  the most competitive in the state.

But Ray said Brophy will be the team to beat this year.

“Like Corona,” Ray said, “they have a lot of players coming back where Salpointe had a lot of seniors last season so they probably won’t be as strong.”

Lee Nguyen

From Goal.com

VIETNAM – American-Vietnamese star Lee Nguyen has already had a big impact in Vietnam after scoring a hat-trick in his first official match for Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL).

The new striker, who has played for the US national team and is the highest-paid player in the nation of Vietnam, scored a hat-trick in his debut for the club in the cup win over Saigon United.

The 22-year-old Texan began his European career with PSV Eindhoven after a stellar freshman year at Indiana University. However, Nguyen struggled to find regular first team action with PSV and was sent to Danish side Randers F.C. before being sold to Hoang Anh Gia Lai.

Nguyen got his first cap for the United States in 2007, but has yet to find a regular role with Bob Bradley’s team.

Speaking to Vietnamese daily, Thanh Nien, HAGL Technical Director Nguyen Van Vinh said, “It’s still too soon to conclude Nguyen will have a big influence like the Thai striker Kiatisuk at the club a few years ago.

“However, the Vietnamese American midfielder promises to bring interesting winds of change to the V-League this year with superb performances in his two matches, including a practice match.”

Saigon United coach Van Sy Hung also paid tribute, saying, “Nguyen was the most important player in HAGL’s win over our team.”

As a professional athlete, this Vietnamese American proved that size isn’t the only thing that counts. Growing up, Dat Nguyen tackled all kinds of sports, choosing basketball as his first love, before jumping into the game that would define his career.

By Ky-Phong Tran | Nguoi Viet 2 Online

On the football field, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dat Nguyen made a career of being elusive, squeezing through holes and sneaking up on unsuspecting running backs with body-crushing tackles.

Early this month, Nguyen retired from the game of football the way he played: Stealthily, with little fanfare and media coverage.

In his stellar career, Nguyen was one of the most decorated football players of all time. During his senior season of college, he was named an All-American and the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and won the Lombardi and Bednarik Awards, for best lineman and best defensive player, respectively.

But Nguyen was so much more than his athletic achievements. The most important Asian American athlete ever has left the game with little analysis of what he meant to sport and race in America.

And yes, I said ever. E-V-E-R.

Asian America

Nguyen is the most significant Asian American athlete ever because of his gender, ethnicity and sport. Male. Vietnamese American. Football.

More significant than golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Michael Chang because he played in America’s toughest, most masculine sport.

More critical to Asian America than Chinese basketball player Yao Ming and Japanese baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, because unlike them, Nguyeãn was born and raised in this country, which meant that he had to negotiate a system of sport and race that was not meant for him.

For the Asian American male, Nguyen is the modern-day Bruce Lee, a model of strength and masculinity in the face of the ever-constant emasculation of the Asian American male (remember the disaster that was William Hung from “American Idol”?)

There he was in his maroon Texas A&M jersey making tackle after tackle, becoming a legend at linebacker. He wasn’t some wimpy kicker or punter, or some runt receiver, but a middle linebacker in the thick of all the action: sacking quarterbacks, popping running backs, causing fumbles and intercepting passes.

Linebacker, the toughest position in football, where legendary names like Taylor and Singletary are now joined by Nguyen.

After college, Nguyen was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, one of the most storied franchises in sports. He proved all his doubters wrong, the ones who said he was too slow and too small, to lead the team in tackles four times, to have the second-highest total of tackles in a season for a Cowboy, serve as team captain, and be named All Pro in 2004. He played seven seasons for the Cowboys before injuries that limited him to just eight games last year forced his retirement at age 30.

In an Asian America that often focuses on China, Japan or Korea, there was a Vietnamese American man on “America’s Team,” sacking Peyton Manning and tackling LaDanian Tomlinson. The 5-foot, 11-inch, 238-pound linebacker was “representing” and in doing so, making all those Long Duk Dong images (from “Sixteen Candles”) a little less embarrassing.

Vietnamese America

Even within Asian America, it’s different for us here in America. That’s the truth for Vietnamese Americans.

We came as refugees, not immigrants, and with the trauma that accompanies forced displacement. And we came as allies in a lost war, a war that divided this country bitterly.

When you tell people you are Vietnamese, individuals often frown and mention war and a relative who is a veteran. Our identity as Americans can be precarious, and we sometimes wonder if we truly belong here.

In Nguyen’s hometown of Rockport, Texas, there were clashes between white and Vietnamese shrimpers, trouble with the Ku Klux Klan, and even a shooting incident. After Nguyen’s success as a football player, tensions have lessened. It’s unfortunate that it took fame and riches to create some tolerance, but that’s a human condition, not a racial one.

For Vietnamese America, Nguyen is a root in this country, a sign that we are here and can make contributions at various levels. He is a symbol of perseverance and talent.

Not that we have arrived or are accepted, but simply, that we exist. And for a war-torn people living in exile, that means everything.

The refugee

Nguyen and I have a very special connection. Both of our mothers escaped Viet Nam while they were five months’ pregnant with us. We were even neighbors at the same refugee camp in Fort Chafee, Ark.; I imagine our moms discussing name choices outside the cafeteria. We were born 19 days apart in September 1975, though I was born in Alabama and he came into the world inside the camp.

It’s a miracle either of us are alive. What are the odds that we could withstand those travel conditions in the womb and that our mothers didn’t miscarry? It makes me feel so lucky and drives me to live a significant life. I’m sure it did the same for Nguyen, too.

The athlete

Our ties are strengthened by athletics. I remember seeing a small feature on Nguyen in Sports Illustrated and then watching him play in college in 1994. I am not exaggerating to say that he was spectacular in that game. He seemed to be everywhere, making every tackle and even causing and recovering a fumble.

Most of all, I remember the cameras showing his mom cheering in the stands and the announcers talking about the Vietnamese refugee kid who was starting as a redshirt freshman. That was epic for me. There was somebody who not only looked like me participating in sports, but excelling to the point of domination.

I grew up playing basketball in the urban confines of Long Beach, Calif. I even made the team at Long Beach Poly High School, which was named the best sports high school in America by Sports Illustrated, so you know the teams weren’t a joke.

I remember the fear and anxiety I felt trying out for the squad, the only Asian American in the gym and what felt like the ZIP code for that matter. I have many team pictures where I am the only face that is not African American.

I remember playing league games in Compton and off-season all over the ‘hood. I am amazed at how I dealt with that fear, not the fear of race, but the fear of being only 5 feet 7 inches and 140 pounds, the fear of being too “soft” for the city game, the fear of being different.

When I saw Nguyen playing, Nguyen making plays, Nguyen becoming an All-American, I knew there was at least one person in the world who knew exactly how I felt in those days. To see him become a professional, to make “the show,” well that was like watching my pro basketball dreams come true. I followed Nguyen with delight.

Sports media

There is a song and poem by Gil Scott-Heron that says that “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and I accept that the media is too corporate to tell the truth about politics. But couldn’t it at least get it right once and discuss Dat Nguyen for what he was and what he meant to sports?

Over the years, Nguyen has been featured in Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, the Sporting News, and Esquire. But, always as a human-interest story, the novelty of being a refugee and Asian American. Never what he meant. Never his social impact.

But let’s be clear: Nguyen was a modern day Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens, breaking color lines with his talent and successes.

And let’s be realistic here. Race in America works on a black and white dynamic. When Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters dominate traditional “white sports” like golf and tennis, it’s news. But if you’re outside that model, it’s hard to crack the news.

So what did the American media do with a U.S.-born, Vietnamese American football player whose family fled a country known mostly through the lens of war? Not much. We — the viewing public — had Nguyen for 11 years, and it’s a shame we didn’t appreciate him more.

In America’s limited frame on people of color, Nguyen was like the platypus, an animal that defies traditional animal categories because it is a mammal that lays eggs. He didn’t fit into its image of the Asian American man. He was too masculine, not a scrawny nerd with glasses. And yet ironically, he was not foreign enough, being born here and not speaking with an accent.

Unfortunately, Nguyen was not only ahead of his time as an Asian American athlete, he was too complex for it, as well.

Dear Dat,
Thanks for the memories and inspiration. From a brother in life and sport.
~ Ky-Phong

Dat Nguyen

By Jami Farkas | Nguoi Viet 2 Online

Every time he puts on the white, silver, and blue of the Dallas Cowboys, every time he runs onto the field, he is more than a football player.

He is a symbol, a symbol of Vietnamese work ethic meeting American dream. A symbol of how an immigrant whose family escaped the horrors of war can find fame and fortune in a new land. He is the hope of refugee youngsters who, too, want to succeed in their chosen field but hear they are too small, too slow, too big, too “something” to excel.

He is Dat Nguyen, the first — and only — Vietnamese American to play in the National Football League.

“No matter where our loyalty lies with a football team, Dat is the one we’re cheering for,” said Ryan Nguyen Hubris, co-founder of the Vietnamese American National Gala, which honored the athlete. “When he makes the great plays, we share in his achievements. When he falters, we share his disappointments. He is an icon in so many ways.”

And in the Vietnamese American community, he is a star, a star as shiny as the one that adorns his Cowboys helmet. And there isn’t a day that passes that he doesn’t realize just how fortunate he is.

“I’m living a dream,” said Nguyen, whose team will play archrival Washington on Monday night. “You are an immigrant, you live in America, you play America’s sport. You play for America’s team. Anything else is icing on the cake for me.”

******

Ho and Tammy Nguyen awoke their five weary children that night in April 1975, though it’s a wonder the little ones could sleep. The sound of bullets and bombs penetrated the night air of the small town south of Saigon.

It was time to leave. Now.

Tammy, pregnant at the time, and her husband left everything behind, including Ho’s marine shop in Vietnam. They made it to a refugee camp in Arkansas, where Dat was born Sept. 25, 1975.

“What’s amazing to me is what they went through. They were risking the chance not even to live another day,” Nguyen says of his parents. “It’s always a touching subject to me.”
Eventually, the family settled in Rockport, in Texas, which had a thriving shrimping industry, a place where Ho could earn a living. There, they registered young Dat in a youth soccer league.

He was the last one drafted onto his team, the only boy of Vietnamese descent to play in the group of eight or 10 teams. His best friend’s father was the coach.
“Everyone on our team was cool,” he said.

Two years later, when he was eight or nine years old, things weren’t so cool. His team of 15 players had 11 of Vietnamese descent. It won the league championship.

Other parents “weren’t happy we won,” he remembered. “It was awfully quiet at the awards ceremony.”

The people of Rockport, it seems, weren’t happy that the Vietnamese immigrants had taken jobs in their community.

“At that age, I didn’t know much,” he said. “When you’re there for so many years and someone comes and invades your property, taking food away from you, of course you’re not going to be happy.”

******

Ho and Tammy worked long hours, two or three jobs to support their children.

“They were so caught up into working, putting food on the table,” their son said. “That’s the only thing they knew.”

So when the parents were away, Nguyen took some chances.

Encouraged by junior-high school coaches who thought he could help their football team, Nguyen started playing a sport foreign to his parents. While they toiled hard, he ran hard. Practice before school, games after.

His mother and father had no idea of their boy’s extracurricular activities until he came home with a cast on his arm.

“That’s when my Mom found out,” he recalled. “They weren’t too happy.”

But seeing how much their youngest child took to the game, they struck a deal. If he didn’t get good grades in school, he couldn’t play. His Mom and Dad knew how important education was. “If I stayed in high school, I’d have a better chance.”

Stay in school he did, leading Rockport-Fulton High School. He was a Texas Top 100 selection as a linebacker and defensive player of the year in district 30-3A as a senior after making 188 tackles. He also earned Class 3A second-team all-state honors as a punter.

After high school, he went onto Texas A&M University, graduating in 1998 with a degree in agricultural development. During his senior season in college, he took post-graduate classes.

It was in college that Dat Nguyen became a household name, where football fans nationwide began to take notice of a Vietnamese American on the field. After his final season, he earned All-America honors from several groups and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, he won the Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman and the Chuck Bednarik Award as the college defensive player of the year.

Nguyen finished his senior season with a career-high 147 tackles and became the first player in school history to lead tradition-rich Texas A&M in tackles four straight seasons.

Perhaps more importantly to him, Nguyen had opened doors for other Vietnamese American youths, becoming a role model. At the same time, he opened a new door with his parents, who really had not understood the game when he started playing.

But after attending an A&M game, it was clear Tammy Nguyen knew football.

“Why did the quarterback do this? Why didn’t the running back do this?” She peppered her son with questions.

“She started to understand the game,” he said. “It’s awesome because they talk about it.”

The Nguyens of Rockport love football now. They watch every Saturday and Sunday.
“They don’t care if I’m playing or not,” their son said. “The TV is on.”

******

April 17, 1999, was one of the longest, yet best days of Nguyen’s life. NFL Draft Day, the day professional teams decide if the college players move to the next rank.

Nguyen had heard what all the NFL scouts said about him. At 5 foot 11, he was too small to play linebacker in a league of giants.

Still, he waited for the phone to ring, for an NFL team to say it wanted one of the most decorated players in college football history.

Finally, that call came. It was the Dallas Cowboys. At 8:30 p.m., the team made Dat Nguyen the 85th selection in the draft, the 24th player taken in the third round. The 1999 draft was one littered with players who have become NFL stars, such as Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb and Indianapolis running back Edgerrin James, and some who became NFL has-beens before their careers even started. Do fans of the New England Patriots even remember Andy Katzen-moyer, also a linebacker?

“It was the most joyful and most stressful day,” Nguyen said. “I just wanted an opportunity. I didn’t care if it was first round, seventh round, that’s all I could ask for. My whole career, everybody told me I couldn’t do it.

“It’s the beast of the business. If teams invest a lot of money in you, they have to see potential in you. When you’re 5-11, 230 and run a 4.6 (for 40 yards), that’s no potential.”

But recruiters for the Cowboys saw something and cannot have been disappointed in the years since. Nguyen made an immediate impact in his rookie season in 1999, earning all-rookie honors. By 2000, he was a starter at linebacker and in 2001, he led Dallas in tackles with 172, second on the all-time list for the Cowboys.

So far this season, in two games, Nguyen has eight tackles and one interception.

After those two competitions, the Cowboys have one win and one loss. Nguyen would like nothing more than to help restore glory to the storied football franchise, winner of five Super Bowls.

“The key to the game of football at the end of the year is how healthy you are,” Nguyen said of his team. “As long as you stay healthy, you’ve got a chance to win.”

But when Super Bowl XXXIX is played Feb. 6 in Jacksonville, Fla., will the Cowboys and their legendary coach, Bill Parcells, be there?
“It would be nice. It would be great,” he said. “Carolina (Panthers in 2004) made it when nobody thought they would. There’s a chance. You never know what’s going to happen.”

******

For Dat Nguyen, there is no uncertainty in his personal life. He and his wife, Becky, are the parents of Aubrey Mai, now 15 months old. They are visible in the Dallas community, working tirelessly for organizations dedicated to serving causes such as underprivileged children, childhood cancer and breast cancer.

In part for those efforts, the Vietnamese American National Gala in May gave him one of its prestigious awards for service to the community. His fellow refugees also honored him for taking risks and for inspiring others.

And while he is immersed in the Dallas community, he hasn’t forgotten his ties to the Vietnamese community in Rockport, six hours away. He speaks Vietnamese, loves Vietnamese food and constantly teaches Aubrey Mai Vietnamese.

“She’s going to be diverse,” he said of his daughter. “I want to expose her to a lot of different foods and cultures. I want to keep the Vietnamese roots. I want her to be able to speak Vietnamese and to understand Vietnamese. I told myself if I ever marry a Caucasian girl, I would speak Vietnamese to my child. I want her to be able to communicate with her grandparents.”

Nguyen said he realizes he represents not just himself but the Asian community each time he appears in public.

“I know a lot of people look up to me, a lot of kids,” he said. “It’s great if I succeed. It’s like I’m opening a door for other kids. If you want to be a pro football player, dream. I did.”

“Many Vietnamese people I know are very inspired by him,” said Bill Lee, editor of asiansportsnet.com, which tracks Asians in professional sports in the United States. “He’s been a good role model for them not just on the football field but off the football field. A lot of non-Asians know him.”

“He certainly breaks the stereotype of a small, docile Vietnamese,” Hubris said. “Despite his size, he truly is a gentle giant. I’ve had the pleasure of spending some time with him and his loving family, and I can say without reservation that he is one of the kindest men I’ve ever met, much less an NFL superstar.

“He demonstrates a sense of humility and grace I seldom see in accomplished professionals.