Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL

7. Labels Are for Canned Goods

C H ฀ P T E R 7 Labels ฀re for Canned Goods ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀s you might imagine,฀many฀people—especially฀ witty฀newspaper฀headline฀and฀cutline฀writers—love฀to฀have฀fun฀ with฀my฀name.฀I’ve฀seen฀and฀heard฀plenty฀of฀puns฀and฀pronunciation ฀ plays฀ on฀ words฀ through฀ the฀ years.฀ There’s฀ the฀ “WinNguyen ”฀situation,฀the฀“Nguyen-ing฀Edge,”฀“Nguyen-Breaker”฀ and฀the฀“Who?฀What?฀Where?฀And฀Nguyen.”฀That’s฀just฀my฀ last฀name.฀There฀have฀been฀plenty฀of฀creative฀catch-phrases฀with฀ my฀fi ฀rst฀name,฀as฀well.฀Such฀as:฀“Dat-A-Way,”฀“Dat’s฀More฀Like฀ It,”฀and฀“This฀and฀Dat.”฀I฀even฀sometimes฀refer฀to฀myself฀as฀ Aubrey’s฀“Datty.”฀But฀the฀most฀effective฀use฀of฀my฀name฀was,฀ fi ฀ttingly,฀created฀by฀the฀people฀who฀named฀me฀in฀the฀fi ฀rst฀place:฀ my฀฀ parents. ฀ The฀ hostilities฀ toward฀ the฀ Vietnamese฀ shrimpers฀ along฀ the฀ Texas฀coast฀in฀the฀late฀1970s฀and฀early฀1980s฀eventually฀led฀my฀ father฀out฀of฀the฀shrimping฀industry.฀When฀I฀was฀in฀the฀fourth฀ Labels ฀re for Canned Goods ✮฀ 97 grade฀(1983–84),฀he฀sold฀his฀boat฀and฀built฀the฀Hong฀Kong฀Restaurant .฀Various฀family฀members฀helped฀him฀build฀the฀restaurant,฀ which฀had฀virtually฀everything฀except฀a฀good฀location.฀That,฀of฀ course,฀was฀a฀recipe฀for฀disaster.฀The฀restaurant,฀which฀was฀located ฀away฀from฀the฀main฀highway,฀would฀draw฀big฀crowds฀on฀ Sundays฀because฀of฀the฀buffet.฀But฀during฀the฀week,฀business฀ was฀extremely฀slow.฀It฀was฀so฀slow฀during฀the฀week฀that฀I฀was฀ often฀the฀primary฀customer.฀My฀mother฀used฀to฀joke฀that฀I฀ate฀ her฀out฀of฀business฀by฀eating฀all฀the฀leftovers฀on฀hand฀after฀the฀ limited฀traffic฀into฀the฀restaurant฀six฀days฀a฀week.฀My฀mother฀ and฀ father฀ poured฀ everything—time,฀ money,฀ resources—into฀ the฀Hong฀Kong฀Restaurant฀for฀two฀years,฀but฀ultimately,฀it฀was฀ a฀financial฀drain฀on฀them.฀They฀sold฀the฀restaurant฀to฀another฀ family฀member,฀and฀my฀dad฀went฀back฀to฀work฀on฀a฀shrimping ฀boat฀for฀some฀time฀and฀later฀built฀a฀marine฀supply฀store฀in฀ Fulton. ฀ But฀my฀father฀always฀believed฀he฀could฀make฀a฀living฀in฀the฀ restaurant฀business,฀and฀when฀I฀started฀making฀a฀name฀for฀myself ฀on฀the฀football฀field฀in฀high฀school฀and฀college,฀he฀and฀my฀ mother฀made฀another฀run฀at฀the฀food฀industry฀with฀Hu-Dat฀Restaurant .฀The฀name฀is฀actually฀a฀combination฀of฀my฀name฀and฀ my฀brother฀Hung’s฀name.฀I’m฀biased฀in฀my฀critique,฀of฀course,฀ but฀it฀is฀an฀outstanding฀restaurant฀that฀has฀become฀a฀landmark฀ of฀sorts฀and฀a฀tourist’s฀destination฀in฀Rockport-Fulton.฀It฀was฀a฀ success฀right฀from฀the฀start฀because฀the฀food฀was฀good฀and฀the฀ location—near฀the฀waterfront฀in฀Fulton—was฀much฀better฀than฀ the฀first฀attempt.฀With฀each฀story฀that฀came฀out฀about฀me,฀the฀ restaurant฀also฀received฀free฀publicity.฀ ฀ Reporters฀are฀always฀looking฀for฀interesting฀angles฀for฀their฀ stories,฀and฀my฀route฀to฀Texas฀A&M฀featured฀more฀angles฀than฀ some฀ geometry฀ textbooks.฀ Included฀ in฀ virtually฀ every฀ feature฀ story฀that฀has฀ever฀been฀written฀about฀me฀was฀my฀family’s฀escape฀ from฀Vietnam,฀our฀cross-country฀journeys฀upon฀first฀arriving฀in฀ 98 ✮฀ Chapter 7 the฀United฀States,฀my฀father’s฀shrimping฀experiences,฀and฀my฀ parents’฀restaurant฀just฀off฀the฀Fulton฀Beach฀fishing฀piers.฀My฀ parents฀filled฀the฀front฀entry฀of฀the฀restaurant฀with฀some฀of฀my฀ football฀ memorabilia,฀ including฀ jerseys,฀ trophies,฀ newspaper฀ clippings,฀and฀pictures,฀and฀business฀continued฀to฀pour฀in฀for฀ lunch฀and฀dinner.฀Business฀was฀so฀good฀that฀my฀parents฀later฀ opened฀other฀successful฀Hu-Dat฀locations฀in฀Corpus฀Christi฀and฀ Ingleside,฀putting฀family฀members฀in฀charge฀of฀day-to-day฀operations . ฀ In฀other฀words,฀most฀of฀my฀A&M฀teammates฀were฀quite฀familiar ฀with฀Hu-Dat฀long฀before฀I฀ever฀began฀taking฀them฀to฀visit฀ my฀ hometown฀ and฀ experience฀ the฀ restaurant฀ for฀ themselves.฀ Whenever฀I฀did฀take฀friends฀home,฀my฀parents฀would฀go฀all฀out฀ to฀impress฀them฀with฀the฀quality฀and฀the฀quantity฀of฀food.฀HuDat ฀serves฀an฀affordable฀mix฀of฀Gulf฀seafood,฀popular฀Chinese฀ food,฀and฀a฀small฀selection฀of฀authentic฀Vietnamese฀food.฀If฀you฀ like฀noodles,฀rice,฀steamed฀vegetables,฀Chinese฀food,฀or฀fresh฀seafood ,฀you’d฀probably฀love฀Hu-Dat.฀That’s฀what฀I฀told฀my฀former฀ teammates฀when฀we฀took฀a฀trip฀to฀Rockport฀together฀following฀ my฀first฀season฀in฀the฀NFL฀in฀2000.฀ ฀ I฀was฀trying฀to฀help฀my฀church฀in฀Rockport฀raise฀money฀by฀ appearing฀at฀a฀Chinese฀New฀Year’s...