Football Player Dat Nguyen Retires

March 8, 2006

There are few Asian Americans in pro or big-time college sports and even fewer in the NFL. Nguyen was the first Asian American that I can remember playing pro football and for America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, no less.

The son of refugees who fled Vietnam, Nguyen is telling his story in an autobiography, Dat: Tackling Life in the NFL. (Commercial break: Be sure to use the Amazon link in the upper right corner if you'd like to buy the book. Hyphen, a nonprofit, all-volunteer magazine, gets a cut of the sale if you use the link.)

Nguyen's had a nice career and hopefully he turned a few heads in the NFL, breaking stereotypes and proving that an Asian American can play in the macho, rough-and-tumble world of pro football.

This story says, "A Hollywood scriptwriter could not have created the Dat Nguyen story." I'd really hate to see what Hollywood would do to Nguyen's story. Luckily, David Carradine is too old to play him.

Contributor: 

Harry Mok

Editor in chief

Editor in Chief Harry Mok wrote about growing up on a Chinese vegetable farm for the second issue of Hyphen and has been a volunteer editor since 2004. As a board member of the San Francisco and New York chapters of the Asian American Journalists Association, Harry has recruited and organized events for student members. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also a graduate student instructor in the Asian American Studies Department.

Comments

Comments

Hines Ward - half Korean American, and SUper Bowl MVP.Nuff said...
Take away the other half and there you have it. Probably wouldnt be athletic
I remember accidentally catching him in college in one of the bowl games. Me and my roommate at the time were really excited to see an Asian American playing football. I think he was Texas A&M's all time career tackles leader, which was even more amazing to me. Too bad he played on a Dallas team that sucked pretty bad during his playing years.
asian asian asian wtf there all type of asian to all you white fuckin dumbasses. Just cuz the one you see are small doesn't mean all other different type of asian or small have you seen Cambodian people there make like black fucking white people get a fucking education...
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whhhhaaaaaat
Rob, I think you are talking about Soccer. We dont play that sport in America, well its not popular
i remember hearing about Dat on ESPN and reading about him in sports magazine in like 96 or 97; i remember when he set Texas A&M all-time record, and won the Bednarik Award and the Lombardi Award. after that i follow his career alittle bit and i happy that he went and played for my team the cowboys. like many of you have said, there have been many asian americans that have played profesional sports, there have been many japeness players that have maded the NFL and they were mostly linemen, but i think that Dat was the only that was well known by people in the sports world bc of what he did at texas a&n. he was more famous at texas a&n then he was in the NFL, the only people that really knew who he was were cowboys fan and people that lived in texas. And he had a good career in the NFL as a starting inside linebacker so you gotta hand it to him, the guy was good.
The only Japanese players I can think of that ever played in the NFL was the Morton Brothers, but they are half Black. Ive seen a lot Somoans in the NFL.
I am sure there will be another Dat Nguyen someday. I really respect the guy because he was the team's defensive captain, also. But sometimes this Asian-centric thinking is not good for us Asian's. We're no different, just people with two legs and two arms and a mindful of ideas, and spirit, passion and fear and courage, just like the 10 billion other people in this world. I dont see myself as Asian, I just see myself as another soul on this planet.I'm sure out there there's a young Dat Nguyen waiting in the wings.
He was OK, The Ting Brothers at USC are OK. They kept getting burned by Vince Young in the Rose Bowl though. Better luck next time
Yea, in another 20 years, Asians will not dominate American sports. Baseball is the best hope were ive seen the biggest progress.
I dont think Asian will ever dominate or make a big impact on American sports, Its not Golf, or Gymnastics. I think Asians have a good chance at Baseball. Yao Ming has all the tools to be great, but he is just to soft. Theres no Dominat Centers in Basketball besides Shaq and he is aging, So Yao really needs to step his game up. Dat lasted in the NFL for eight years, no hall of fame like numbers, but eight is not bad. Better than most
check out this Youtube clip of Haruki Nakamura. FS from the University of Cincinnati and will most likely be drafted in the upcoming NFL Draft in April. Enjoy because us University of Cincinnati fans realy enjoy the way he plays the game..!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHApgrJarw8If the link doesn't work go to www.youtube.com and type in "Haruki Nakamura Ultimate Highlight"
5/10, 190 pounds that dude is gonna get burned in the NFL, what ever team he goes to better not play man to man.
the first american of asian ancestry was wally yonamine (born in hawaii) he was drafted by the san francisco 49ers in 1947.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Kaname_Yonamine
vins yong rocks .hookum horns
I think "Asian's" on a whole are just not as physically large genetically as say caucasians, or blacks. Thus they are more than likely to make up only a small majority of any "power" sport that requires large size and strength (football, basketball, etc.) While its by no means impossible for someone who's Asian to play these type of sports, as I said its just alot more unlikely.
i don't know if the issue of size is 'genetic' or dietary and 'training' capacity. Americans, on average, are larger than most Europeans and Africans. Those two locations, Europe and Africa, being the 'source point' (and theoretically most pure strain) of the genetic groups you (Trevor) identified would, or should, tend to be even larger than the 'adulterated' versions here in the US\North America. But they're not. There is also a gtowing problem with obesity in kids in Asia - no pun intended - which has bee attributed to diet and changes in lifestyle.Things fall apart. Entropy always wins.
Well, I guess the stars of the main Americans Sports will stay Black and white. Baseball has lost a lot of its popularity in the states. Soccer sucks in America, but they do quite well Overseas. I think Basketball is second to Soccer inernationally. Size is not everything, Speed has a lot to do with play also
Anonymous, you're ability to go way off point never cease to amaze me. HOW does what you've posted address the issues raised by the earlier posts on this topic? HOW can make your statment in light of Yao Ming? The many Japanese MLB players? The many Latino MLB players? The numerous Samoans in the NFL?? The recent rise of European NBA stars can't be because they are white. They've been white since before there was an NBA but now they are gaining star status. Could it be training? Diet? Healthcare?? Think man, THINK!!! WTF???
I guess you havent read all the post. If I went off the topic so did everyone else. What does the dietary make up of a player has to do with anything. Read all the post before you try to blast someone.
To talk about the dietary make up of an athlete is boring. Who wants to know what Micheal Jordan eats for breakfast. Someone had to change the subject. If you find this interesting then you never played a true sport. Europeans have always been well known in basketball, thats nothing new. why would anyone want entertain what athletes eat. Its a topic about sports, so I feel people that like sports can speak about this freely, surrounding Dat Nguyen. I mean dont make this Rocket Science. I read an article on Dat Nguyen. He was introduced to the sport by his older brother. Because Asians are small he developed a taste to eat a lot of foods that would make him big in size. He weighed in the NFL 240. OK size for a linebacker, but like I said in one of my post, which you failed to read, eating habits only determine so much. Strength and Speed has a lot to do with the success of an athlete. I know a lot of big guys, but just because they are big doesnt make them a front row candidate for the Heisman .
obviously speed, strength and skill have a lot to do with an athlete's ability. BUT as you pointed out, Dat ate foods to help him get bigger. as this occurs more broadly in a population (i.e. proteins instead of starches) that population will change in size. Exhibit 1 - obesity problem in USA. Exhibit 2 - growing obesity problem in China.NOBODY said that simply being big was a blueprint for sports stardom, but height helps in b-ball, size helps in certain football positions, etc. and you can't 'coach' height nor will a diet of Twinkies produce a good offensive lineman. Please don't do your typical rebuttal of citing some single ndividual and tout them as the 'norm' - there are always exceptions to these types of things.If Europe (not the descendants of Europeans in the US) was ALWAYS dominant in b-ball, then why did the US dominate Olympic b-ball for so many years until the 90s?? Why are so many of the players African American if the 'Europeans' had such an inherent advantage?You have a reading comprehension problem which I think you should have addressed by a doctor. I've read all of your posts - on this thread and others on this site. My opinion still stands. I am sure you are a nice guy and mean well and all , but DAMN 'g', get it together.In the words of Roberto Duran - No mas.
Im sorry if you take these blogs so seriously. What a geek you are. Do you base everything around some type of scientific reasoning. I wonder what other amazing observations you can bring before this blog Einstein. I honostly know one thing about you. You never played a sports. Tennis and Lacrosse doe not count. Keep this for the record, im sure you are a nice guy to, but I really dont care what you think. Who are you? NOBODY. Thanks for the attention. Have an expresso, a Kool Aid smile and a great day.
You guys need to calm down and stopall this homosexual self-loathingtoward one another.Obviously there are many factorsto an atheletes potential, dependingboth on sport and position in sport.You don't necessarily need a centerto be incredibly tall, as Ben Wallace,Boris Diaw, and Amare stoudemire haveproven, you need strength and speed.You don't always need speed or strengthif you have technical skill as TimDuncan does.Yao ming is a finesse player, no onereally expects him to be a power player.It's hard when you're 7'5" and gawky.Look at sean bradley.. the only guytaller than Yao. Who knows where heis since, he's been posterized byso many guards a foot shorter than he.- speaking of genetic, shaq is honestlyjust a freak. Look at any other7 Foot center, they are all tall andlanky, cuz it's hard to be ableto put on that much weight not to mention muscle because of both metabolism, ligament separation in taller people affecting muscle leverage.Honestly, you can't really compareoverseas asian players to American ones.They play the same game that emphasizesdifferent values and uses differentrules. America got its ass kickedin basketball by 3rd world nationscuz they couldn't play as a team.Maybe if asians ate less soy,an estrogen enhancing/promotingfood stuff, that is a huge stapleof their diet, they'd be "bigger".maybe if asians emphasized schooland learning less than sports theywould be better.Maybe if Asian overseas players employedthe same muscle technology,supplementation, and science thatAmerica one of the leading economiesin the world used, we'd have morephysically "powerful" players.But in all honesty, speed andtechnique kill in today's legalismof sports. Brute power and sizedoesn't count for much except infootball. its a shitty sport anyway.
Great point, but everyone fails to realize one thing. When we lost to those 3rd world teams, who was on the roster? No Shaq, No Jason Kidd, No Chauncy Billups,no kevin Garnette, No Kobe Bryant, Basically all our stars refused to play. You must realize we play these countries best players. Today all these rich companies that are endorsing these stars are forcing them to play in the next world games either if they want to or not. If the oversead teams win then ill give them there props after next play. That last team was mainly made up of college players that lost those two games, and the Olypmpic Team had Ok players but not our best. No where near our best. Im glad we lost, it gives all these other countries inspiration. They have no idea. We will crush them next time.
University of Oregan superstar safety, Patrick Chung is entering the NFL draft.http://goldsea.com/801/16spchung.html
Speaking of Asians in sport... I think Ichiro is pretty darn good... His problem is that he didn't juice up. He only holds the single season hits record. And other assorted records. But, who the hell cares about that? He plays baseball and in baseball, it's all about the home runs. (Okay, yeah, I'm being a little too sarcastic there.)I do find it puzzling that having a successful or dominating Asian athlete in a sport is somehow a rite of passage for Asians as an ethnicity. Sports is interesting and all, but is it really that important for our "success" as a ethnic group in this day and age? Last time I checked, most of us don't need to hunt for our food. So, personally I don't think having a dominating entity in sport, any sport, is that important. I like sports and all, but there are so many more important things in life.That being said, I still support the Asian American athletes, because it is so hard on so many levels.
EUGENE:Ichiro is a great player and he plays his game. His game is not hitting home runs, he is not a power hitter. But his stats are impressive.Asians have achieved a lot in America and I agree. Asians are known to get good grades in school, attend top Universities and hate to sound stereotypical, but why play sports, listen to western music or be the main character on a TV show.Thats what I get from your post
EUGENE:Ichiro is a great player and he plays his game. His game is not hitting home runs, he is not a power hitter. But his stats are impressive.Asians have achieved a lot in America and I agree. Asians are known to get good grades in school, attend top Universities and hate to sound stereotypical, but why play sports, listen to western music or be the main character on a TV show.Thats what I get from your post
ya not all asians are small and weak some are real good football players
Theres a few Samoans, Chad and Johnnie Morton are half black and so is Hines Ward and most others that are in the MFL. But you know the saying, is you have one ounce of black blood in you then you are black
I am 19yrs old Segun friends call me GATUSO cos i am a strong guy on the pitch,i am looking for a club to show my talent,i am a good and nice player who listen to instruction of my coach and my other team mate.I will be happy if any of the clubs can asist me on my talent and u will never regret of having me in ur team.U can email me on nellydlovers [at] yahoo.com or # +234 802 751 6425
there is one junior in highscool who is committed to VT named David Wang, he benches like 360 and runs a 4.8 and hes a junior! I think he has a high chance to be in the NFL because i read that his parents were part of the Chinese olympic team during the 70's
Nah, he wont make it in the NFL. He weight is 297 and his max is 397. Thats about average for a defensive tackle, or below average. He runs a 4.8 40, if he wants to make it in the NFL he may need to get his speed up to a 4.5, or 4.6.sounds like he will be a great, or average college player.
I met Dat Nguyen the other day and he is awesome...his life story is definitely inspirational.