Dat Nguyen

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Dat Nguyen
Position (s):
Linebacker 		Jersey number (s):
59
born September 25, 1975 in Fort Chaffee , Arkansas
Career information
Active : 1999 - 2005
NFL Draft : 1999 / Round: 3 / Pick: 85
College : Texas A&M
Teams

As a player

As a trainer

  • Dallas Cowboys (2007-2010)
  • Texas A&M (2010-2011)
Career statistics
Sacks     6th
Interceptions     7th
Games     90
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
College Football Hall of Fame

Dat Nguyen Tan (* 25. September 1975 in Fort Chaffee , Arkansas ) is a former American American football trainers and poker players on the position of the linebackers . He played with the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL).

childhood

Nguyen's childhood was shaped by the effects of the Vietnam War . His parents Ho and Tam Nguyen fled to Thailand in the middle of the night with his five siblings, who were only wearing pajamas, in the last few days, leaving their belongings behind . This escape was a nightmare for the family, their financial resources amounted to 10 dollars in cash, the supplies on the boat were poor and there were constant fire from Viet Cong troops . The aim of the escape was actually an American warship, which lay off the Vietnamese coast and should have brought the refugees to Guam . The refugee boat missed the warship, and the refugees were forced to make their way on a ten-day sea voyage to Thailand. Nguyen's mother was pregnant with him at the time and was seasick the whole trip. A few months after arriving in Thailand, the family was able to emigrate to the United States, where Nguyen was born two months later in a refugee camp. In the USA, the family was then taken in by a Catholic parish and provided with the essentials. She later moved to Texas , where Nguyen grew up.

His family's flight and the difficult living conditions for them in the USA were formative for Nguyen. His mother had two jobs on the coast in Rockport - she worked in two restaurants, one as a cook and the other as a dishwasher. His father worked in the shrimp industry 14 hours a day. At school, Nguyen was considered an outsider, his family's financial opportunities were limited, which was considered a flaw by his classmates. He quickly realized that he could only trust his family. A college degree was initially unthinkable for him. On the football field, Nguyen found his refuge, he set several school records, which did not go unnoticed by college football scouts .

college

Nguyen received a scholarship from Texas A&M University in College Station , Texas . His college station coach, RC Slocum , had met him on a trip through schools on the Texan coast and was able to persuade his parents, who had no clue about football, to let him go to college instead of sending him on a shrimp fishing boat. The abuse of his origins continued in college as well, among other things he was defamed in a letter written by a student whose brother had fallen in Vietnam . Nguyen, who had never been to Vietnam before he started his professional career, still prevailed. According to his own statements, his parents gave him the will to assert himself on the way. Although he was considered too small and too light for the position of a linebacker (he weighed 96 kg and 1.80 cm tall), he was also initially considered too fat and lacked muscle mass, he played in the position for four years long and broke several college records. He played 51 games in a row and scored a total of 517 tackles during his studies , which means an average of 10.7 per game. In 1998 he moved into the Cotton Bowl with his team, the Texas A&M Aggies . The game against UCLA was lost at 29:23, with Ngyugen scoring 20 tackles and one interception . The 1999 Sugar Bowl was also lost to Ohio State University by 24:14 . In 1998, Nguyen received two awards for his performance as a defender, the Bednarik Award and the Lombardi Award . He was nominated for the Dick Butkus Award , the prize for the best college linebacker.

Profile career

Nguyen was committed in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft in 85th place by the Dallas Cowboys . Nguyen was used in the first year not only in defense , but also in the special teams of the cowboys. In his second professional year he was able to conquer a regular position and developed as a middle linebacker to a key player in the defense of the cowboys. Although he usually faced much heavier attacking players in their 3-4 defense (three defensive line players and four linebackers), he succeeded in asserting himself with his speed, agility and great range. He also developed leadership skills and was always able to predict the opponent's attacking moves in advance.

In 2006 after seven seasons, Nguyen had to end his career due to a neck injury he sustained in 2005. He scored 421 tackles, six sacks , seven interceptions in 90 games in the regular season and was able to conquer four fumbles or secure the ball for his team afterwards.

Trainer

From 2007 to January 2010, Nguyen worked as an assistant coach for the Cowboys. Under Head Coach Wade Phillips he was responsible for looking after the linebackers. In 2010 he took the position of linebacker trainer at Texas A&M , his former college. After the 2011 season, he left the university.

Private

Nguyen is married and has two daughters. He was able to support his family through his sporting successes. This now has its own restaurant Hu Dat , named after him and his brother. The company now has several branches. In Vietnam, Nguyen is completely unknown, as football is nowhere near as popular as football.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from October 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Brent Zwerneman: Nguyen says 'no chance' he'll be back; Narduzzi in town. January 5, 2012, accessed August 6, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Dat Nguyen chain of restaurants
personal data
SURNAME Nguyen, Dat
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nguyen, Dat Tan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American football player
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH Fort Chaffee , Arkansas