Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL

Image Plates

This฀photo฀of฀my฀parents฀is฀the฀only฀picture฀that฀made฀the฀trip฀ from฀Vietnam฀to฀the฀United฀States.฀Nguyen฀family฀photo Dat฀in฀the฀refugee฀ camp฀eating.฀Nguyen฀ family฀photo My฀family฀arrives฀at฀our฀ sponsored฀home฀in฀Kalamazoo,฀ Michigan.฀That’s฀my฀mom฀carrying฀ me.฀Nguyen฀family฀photo My฀three฀sisters฀and฀ my฀brother,฀Hung,฀pose฀ for฀a฀quick฀snap฀shot.฀ Nguyen฀family฀photo Once฀my฀dad฀fi ฀nished฀building฀this฀forty-seven-foot฀boat,฀ he฀was฀practically฀able฀to฀double฀his฀daily฀haul฀of฀shrimp.฀ Nguyen฀family฀photo฀ Young฀Dat.฀ Nguyen฀family฀photo I฀sometimes฀joke฀with฀kids฀that฀I฀ am฀Jackie฀Chan.฀I’m฀on฀the฀far฀right฀ here,฀doing฀my฀best฀impersonation.฀ Nguyen฀family฀photo This฀photo฀was฀taken฀in฀ junior฀high฀after฀I฀was฀the฀ Offensive฀Player฀of฀the฀ Game฀against฀Port฀Lavaca.฀ I฀rushed฀for฀134฀yards฀ and฀two฀scores.฀Nguyen฀ family฀photo My฀mother฀fi ฀rst฀opened฀a฀sandwich฀and฀coffee฀shop฀in฀1993฀just฀a฀stone’s฀ throw฀away฀from฀the฀water฀in฀Rockport,฀Texas.฀That฀sandwich฀shop฀became฀ the฀now-famous฀Hu-Dat฀Restaurant.฀Photo฀by฀Rusty฀Burson This฀is฀the฀fi ฀rst฀house฀we฀moved฀into฀after฀living฀in฀the฀Offshore฀Inn. Photo฀by฀Rusty฀Burson My฀dad฀built฀this฀home฀in฀Rockport฀in฀just฀nineteen฀days. Photo฀by฀Rusty฀Burson On฀Friday฀nights฀in฀the฀fall฀during฀ my฀senior฀season฀at฀Rockport-Fulton฀High฀School,฀ the฀crowds฀would฀be฀so฀big฀that฀fans฀would฀literally฀ line฀the฀fences.฀Photo฀by฀Rusty฀Burson This฀is฀where฀my฀ sports฀career฀all฀ began—on฀the฀soccer฀ fi ฀elds฀of฀RockportFulton .฀Photo฀by฀ Rusty฀Burson I’ve฀been฀knocked฀around฀plenty฀of฀times฀since฀I฀ played฀at฀Rockport-Fulton,฀but฀I฀can฀still฀remember฀ the฀specifi ฀c฀plays฀that฀helped฀unite฀a฀once-divided฀ community.฀Photo฀by฀Rusty฀Burson No฀matter฀where฀I฀go,฀I฀will฀always฀ be฀reminded฀that฀my฀roots฀are฀on฀shrimp฀ boats฀like฀these.฀Photo฀by฀Rusty฀Burson I฀scored฀a฀touchdown ฀on฀this฀ fumble฀recovery฀ against฀Kansas฀ State฀in฀1996.฀ But,฀fi ฀ttingly฀for฀ the฀season,฀it฀was฀ called฀back.฀Photo฀ courtesy฀12th฀Man฀ Magazine Early฀on฀in฀my฀career฀at฀Texas฀A&M,฀ my฀teammates฀had฀to฀strain฀to฀hear฀ what฀I฀was฀saying฀in฀the฀huddle.฀ Photo฀courtesy฀12th฀Man฀Magazine Colorado฀was฀a฀major฀thorn฀in฀our฀side฀in฀1995฀ and฀again฀here฀in฀’96.฀Payback฀was฀sweet฀in฀1997,฀ though.฀Photo฀courtesy฀12th฀Man฀Magazine Sometimes฀you฀just฀have฀to฀do฀whatever฀it฀takes฀ to฀bring฀down฀a฀ball฀carrier.฀Photo฀courtesy฀12th฀ Man฀Magazine This฀1997฀game฀ against฀North฀Texas฀ was฀actually฀my฀fi ฀rst฀ opportunity฀ever฀to฀ play฀in฀Texas฀Stadium .฀Photo฀courtesy฀ 12th฀Man฀Magazine After฀we฀wrapped฀up฀the฀Big฀12฀South฀title฀in฀1998,฀I฀tossed฀my฀helmet ฀into฀the฀air฀and฀began฀looking฀for฀folks฀to฀hug.฀Aaron฀Oliver฀was฀ the฀“lucky”฀recipient฀here.฀Photo฀courtesy฀12th฀Man฀Magazine The฀1996฀season฀was฀ a฀rather฀dark฀one฀for฀ us,฀but฀it฀had฀a฀handful ฀of฀shining฀moments .฀Photo฀courtesy฀ 12th฀Man฀Magazine Looking฀at฀this฀ picture฀from฀our฀ 1998฀game฀against฀ Kansas฀reminds฀me฀ of฀one฀of฀the฀reasons ฀I฀am฀no฀longer฀ a฀running฀back.฀I฀ need฀to฀tuck฀the฀ ball.฀Photo฀courtesy฀ 12th฀Man฀Magazine We฀were฀Number฀1—at฀least฀in฀the฀Big฀12—in฀1998.฀ This฀is฀just฀my฀friendly฀reminder฀to฀our฀visitors฀from฀Missouri.฀ Photo฀courtesy฀12th฀Man฀Magazine Opening฀the฀1998฀season฀against฀a฀team฀like฀Florida฀State฀helped฀us฀ in฀the฀long฀haul.฀We฀lost฀that฀game,฀but฀we฀knew฀we฀could฀hang฀with฀ the฀best฀of฀the฀best.฀Photo฀courtesy฀12th฀Man฀Magazine I฀sometimes฀like฀to฀joke฀around฀with฀my฀friends฀about฀this฀billboard฀ on฀Highway฀35฀in฀Rockport,฀but฀it฀really฀is฀a฀big฀honor฀for฀me.฀Photo฀ by฀Rusty฀Burson Man,฀do฀I฀ever฀ look฀young฀here.฀ Now,฀I’m฀just฀ young฀at฀heart.฀ Photo฀courtesy฀ 12th฀Man฀ Magazine There฀was฀some฀foreshadowing฀ going฀on฀in฀this฀picture฀of฀me฀winning฀the฀ Lombardi฀Award.฀Pictured฀along฀with฀fi ฀nalists฀Aaron฀Gibson฀of฀ Wisconsin฀(far฀left)฀and฀Ohio฀State’s฀Andy฀Katzenmoyer฀(far฀right)฀ are฀former฀Dallas฀Cowboys฀quarterback฀Roger฀Staubach฀and฀Dallas ฀Cowboys฀radio฀announcer฀Brad...