Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL

6. Texas A&M's Big, Fat Failure

C H ฀ P T E R 6 Texas ฀&M’s Big, Fat Failure ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ONE OF THE MORE ME฀NINGFUL฀ compliments฀ I’ve฀ ever฀received฀came฀from฀a฀man฀I฀barely฀even฀knew.฀Retired฀Maj.฀ Gen.฀Ted฀Hopgood,฀a฀two-star฀general฀in฀the฀Marine฀Corps,฀was฀ the฀commandant฀of฀the฀Corps฀of฀Cadets฀at฀Texas฀A&M฀when฀I฀ was฀in฀college.฀Our฀paths฀rarely฀crossed฀on฀the฀sprawling฀College฀ Station฀campus,฀but฀we฀did฀share฀something฀of฀a฀bond฀in฀terms฀ of฀our฀understanding฀of฀the฀Vietnamese฀culture.฀A฀1965฀graduate ฀of฀Texas฀A&M,฀Hopgood฀served฀three฀tours฀as฀an฀infantry ฀offi ฀cer฀in฀Vietnam฀from฀1965฀to฀1971.฀His฀time฀in฀Vietnam฀ brought฀him฀face-to-face฀with฀the฀Vietcong,฀the฀North฀Vietnamese ฀Army,฀the฀South฀Vietnamese฀war฀personnel,฀and฀the฀people฀ of฀South฀Vietnam.฀Hopgood฀is฀a฀real฀hero฀and฀a฀highly฀respected฀ leader฀of฀men฀in฀every฀sense,฀so฀I฀was฀blown฀away฀when฀I฀fi ฀rst฀ read฀some฀of฀the฀glowing฀things฀he฀had฀to฀say฀about฀me฀in฀an฀ interview฀with฀12th฀Man฀Magazine. ฀ “If฀I฀had฀been฀able฀to฀play฀college฀football,฀I฀like฀to฀believe฀I฀ would฀have฀attempted฀to฀play฀like฀Dat,”฀said฀Hopgood,฀also฀a฀ Texas ฀&M’s Big, Fat Failure ✮฀ 81 huge฀fan฀of฀A&M฀football฀and฀all฀Aggie฀sports.฀“I฀admired฀his฀ heart฀and฀determination.฀He฀personified฀what฀the฀Aggie฀spirit฀ and฀Aggie฀football฀is฀all฀about.฀The฀fact฀he฀is฀Vietnamese฀also฀is฀ of฀significance฀to฀me฀because฀the฀determination฀and฀the฀fighting฀ spirit฀I฀saw฀Dat฀display฀in฀every฀game฀is฀what฀I฀remember฀about฀ the฀very฀strong฀feelings฀I฀had฀about฀the฀Vietnamese฀people.฀The฀ North฀Vietnamese฀and฀the฀Vietcong฀soldiers฀my฀troops฀went฀up฀ against฀were฀fantastically฀dedicated฀and฀skilled฀soldiers.฀I฀can฀ say฀the฀same฀thing฀about฀many฀of฀the฀South฀Vietnamese฀soldiers ฀and฀Marines฀I฀served฀with.฀Dat฀epitomizes฀the฀determination ฀and฀never-give-up฀spirit฀I฀encountered฀in฀fighting฀with฀and฀ against฀the฀Vietnamese฀people.” ฀ Pretty฀ impressive,฀ huh?฀ But฀ now฀ that฀ I฀ have฀ patted฀ myself฀ on฀the฀back,฀I฀feel฀compelled฀to฀let฀you฀in฀on฀the฀truth:฀It’s฀a฀ good฀ thing฀ General฀ Hopgood฀ never฀ saw฀ me฀ practicing฀ during฀ my฀early฀days฀at฀A&M.฀It’s฀an฀even฀better฀thing฀that฀he฀couldn’t฀ have฀read฀my฀mind฀back฀then.฀Had฀he฀known฀me฀or฀seen฀me฀ then,฀he฀would฀have฀likely฀taken฀one฀look฀at฀me฀and฀drawn฀some฀ dramatically฀different฀conclusions—probably฀the฀same฀conclusions ฀many฀of฀the฀Texas฀A&M฀coaches฀were฀reaching฀about฀me.฀ Among฀the฀most฀prominent฀questions฀the฀coaches฀were฀asking฀ themselves฀about฀me฀was,฀“Why฀in฀the฀world฀did฀we฀ever฀sign฀ this฀guy?” When I first arrived฀at฀Texas฀A&M฀in฀the฀summer฀of฀1994,฀my฀ fighting฀spirit฀and฀never-give-up฀attitude฀were฀more฀comparable฀ to฀the฀Pillsbury฀Doughboy฀than฀the฀Vietnamese฀soldiers฀Hopgood ฀remembered.฀My฀midsection฀was฀about฀as฀round฀as฀the฀Michelin ฀Man,฀while฀my฀upper฀body฀drooped฀like฀the฀branches฀of฀ a฀weeping฀willow฀tree.฀After฀signing฀a฀national฀letter-of-intent฀ to฀attend฀Texas฀A&M฀in฀February฀of฀1994,฀I฀celebrated฀by฀eating .฀In฀the฀next฀few฀months,฀I฀rarely฀stopped฀eating.฀My฀primary฀ 82 ✮฀ Chapter 6 method฀of฀training฀for฀my฀career฀as฀a฀college฀football฀player฀was฀ pumping฀silverware,฀not฀iron.฀My฀main฀cardiovascular฀activity฀ during฀ this฀ time฀ consisted฀ of฀ laps฀ to฀ the฀ refrigerator,฀ and฀ my฀ only฀speed฀work฀revolved฀around฀“fast”฀food.฀I฀ate฀with฀a฀passion ฀and฀a฀purpose,฀and฀I฀really฀didn’t฀have฀any฀regrets. ฀ Besides฀simply฀not฀knowing฀how฀to฀take฀care฀of฀my฀body,฀I฀ had฀convinced฀myself฀I฀was฀doing฀what฀I฀was฀supposed฀to฀do฀in฀ order฀to฀become฀a฀big-time฀college฀football฀player.฀The฀recruiting ฀services฀and฀so-called฀experts฀had฀said฀and฀written฀that฀I฀ probably฀needed฀to฀be฀bigger฀in฀order฀to฀play฀inside฀linebacker฀ at฀Texas฀A&M.฀I฀listened฀and฀used฀that฀as฀an฀excuse฀to฀stuff฀my฀ face฀as฀much฀as฀I฀possibly฀could.฀Instead฀of฀getting฀bigger฀by฀adding ฀muscle,฀however,฀I฀just฀got฀fatter,฀lazier,฀slower,฀and฀softer.฀ By฀the฀time฀I฀showed฀up฀at฀Texas฀A&M฀and฀began฀practicing฀in฀ the฀summer฀of฀’94,฀I฀was฀tipping฀the฀scales฀at฀almost฀240฀pounds฀ of฀mostly฀fat.฀My฀uniform฀was฀tight,฀my฀quickness฀was฀disappearing ,฀and฀my฀ability฀to฀make฀the฀plays฀I฀was฀so฀accustomed฀to฀ making฀in฀high฀school฀was฀gone.฀I฀looked฀bad฀in฀the฀mirror,฀but฀I...