The United States of America is a melting pot of people from different cultures and countries in the world. This congregation of people from different cultural backgrounds means that in different aspects of the American community there are people of varying ethnicities. Dat Nguyen is one of such people. He is a Vietnamese who played American Football at the high school and college level and then went ahead to play the game professionally.
After retiring from the NFL after a career with the Dallas Cowboys, he decided to start a career as a football coach but that did not go far before he left.
Dat Nguyen Biography
Dat Tan Nguyen was born on the 25th of September, 1975. His parents, Ho and Tammy were refugees who fled Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. As a result of his parents’ refugee status, Dat Nguyen was born in a refugee camp in Fort Chaffee located in Arkansas. Sometime in his childhood, his parents migrated to Texas, which is where he spent most of his childhood along with his five siblings.
For high school, Nguyen attended Rockport-Fulton High School where he played the middle linebacker position, he also performed the punting duties for the team and this was what lined his path to college with scholarships. He received five sporting scholarship offers but chose to attend Texas A&M as he did not want to attend school far from home.
At A&M, he played for their Aggies team in the same position he played in high school, but critics had the opinion that he had a small stature which will hinder his performance. Nguyen proved them wrong in every way possible. For the duration of the four years, he was at the university, he led the team’s tackle and in the history of the school’s team, he is the only person to have achieved this feat.
Professional Football Career
Dat Nguyen’s professional football career began in 1999 when he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round of that year’s draft. His drafting was a historical and monumental moment in the history of American Football as he was the first Vietnamese to play in the NFL and was among the first people of Asian heritage to do so. He was part of the Dallas Cowboys for six years as a linebacker.
In his first year on the team, Nguyen impressed his teammates and fans with the special tackles he led the team on. He stated in an interview that he had no choice but to excel at the game, not only because of the sacrifice his parents had made to get him where he was but as a way to inspire other young people of the Asian minority.
In the second year after his draft, he suffered a sprained knee and this affected his gameplay but after he got better he was put back in his starting position and led the team with 172 tackles in that season. Dat Nguyen officially retired as a player in 2006, this happened because of a neck injury he sustained and complications from playing the game as long as he had done were telling on his knees.
But his retirement as a player did not mean the end of his relationship with the game. Two years after retirement, he was employed as the assistant coach for the linebackers of the Dallas Cowboys; he coached the team for three years before leaving to join his college’s football team, the Aggies. This job he held for a year before transitioning to becoming a commentator of the sport.
Dat Nguyen’s football career is littered with the awards and achievements he received for his exceptional performance. In 2007, he became a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Ten years later in 2017, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
What Is His Net Worth?
The sport is not the only source of income for Dat Nguyen as he has not only worked as a radio host but also happens to own a Chick-Fil-A franchise in Texas. All of these sources of income have given Nguyen an estimated net worth of $7 million.
Wife and Family of Dat Nguyen
Dat Nguyen and his wife Becky met when they were still in college and they have been together for a long time. How long they dated before they got married in 2001 is not known; nonetheless, it’s no secret that their union has thrived over the years. The couple has five children – two boys who are twins and three daughters.
See Also: Mike Holmgren Biography, Coaching Career, Family, Net Worth, Height, and Weight, Other Facts
Height and Weight
For a significant time in his career, Dat Nguyen’s stature was scrutinized as critics felt he was too small to pay for the position of a linebacker. But he was able to prove them wrong a great deal. He is 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 108 kg.
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