Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL

Foreword

Foreword BY DARREN WOODSON OVER THE YEARS,฀I’ve฀learned฀that฀you฀don’t฀simply฀ watch฀Dat฀Nguyen.฀More฀often฀than฀not,฀you’re฀mesmerized฀by฀ him. ฀ I฀began฀to฀realize฀that฀the฀fi ฀rst฀time฀I฀ever฀watched฀him฀play.฀ It฀was฀in฀1998,฀and฀I฀was฀at฀the฀Dallas฀Cowboys’฀training฀facility ฀in฀Valley฀Ranch฀prior฀to฀the฀start฀of฀our฀season.฀I’m฀a฀proud฀ alum฀of฀Arizona฀State,฀so฀I฀wasn’t฀particularly฀intrigued฀by฀the฀ match-up฀that฀was฀on฀the฀television฀that฀evening฀at฀our฀facility —Texas฀A&M฀vs.฀Florida฀State฀in฀the฀1998฀Kickoff฀Classic.฀ As฀I฀occasionally฀glanced฀at฀the฀TV,฀however,฀I฀couldn’t฀help฀noticing ฀that฀the฀little฀guy฀in฀the฀middle,฀No.฀9,฀seemed฀to฀be฀making ฀a฀play฀every฀time฀I฀looked฀up.฀Suddenly,฀I฀was฀fascinated฀by฀ his฀ability฀to฀make฀tackles฀from฀sideline฀to฀sideline.฀His฀instincts฀ were฀so฀good฀that฀he฀looked฀like฀he฀had฀stolen฀the฀Florida฀State฀ game฀plan. ฀ “Who฀ is฀ that฀ guy?”฀ I฀ asked฀ several฀ of฀ my฀ Cowboys฀ teammates . 10 ✮฀ Foreword ฀ “Where฀have฀you฀been,฀Woody?”฀they฀replied.฀“That’s฀Dat฀ Nguyen.฀The฀guy฀makes฀plays.” ฀ Honestly,฀that฀was฀the฀first฀time฀I฀heard฀his฀name.฀But฀as฀I฀ continued฀to฀watch฀the฀game,฀he฀made฀an฀impression฀on฀me. ฀ The฀next฀time฀I฀heard฀his฀name,฀it฀was฀prior฀to฀the฀1999฀NFL฀ Draft.฀At฀that฀point,฀when฀his฀name฀was฀mentioned,฀the฀words฀ “too฀ small”฀ usually฀ accompanied฀ his฀ list฀ of฀ accomplishments.฀ Nevertheless,฀I฀was฀further฀intrigued฀when฀the฀Cowboys฀decided ฀to฀use฀a฀third-round฀draft฀pick฀to฀select฀him.฀ ฀ The฀first฀time฀I฀saw฀Dat฀at฀Valley฀Ranch,฀I฀tended฀to฀agree฀ with฀the฀experts฀who฀had฀labeled฀him฀as฀“undersized.”฀I฀thought฀ to฀myself,฀“I฀hope฀this฀guy฀plans฀to฀play฀safety,฀because฀he฀really฀ is฀too฀small฀to฀play฀linebacker.” ฀ Once฀again,฀though,฀I฀was฀able฀to฀watch฀Dat฀at฀our฀1999฀training ฀camp,฀and฀once฀again,฀I฀was฀mesmerized.฀Rookies฀in฀the฀NFL฀ don’t฀usually฀have฀“it.”฀Dat฀did.฀He฀understood฀the฀game;฀he฀understood ฀angles฀and฀pursuit;฀he฀understood฀how฀to฀make฀plays;฀ and฀he฀understood฀the฀amount฀of฀work฀it฀was฀going฀to฀take฀for฀ him฀to฀make฀it฀at฀the฀NFL฀level.฀Many฀rookies฀come฀into฀the฀league฀ with฀a฀sense฀of฀entitlement.฀Dat,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀came฀to฀his฀ first฀training฀camp฀with฀a฀sense฀of฀purpose.฀I฀enjoyed฀watching฀ him฀work,฀and฀I฀especially฀admired฀his฀commitment฀to฀improve฀ every฀day.฀He฀excelled฀first฀on฀special฀teams,฀and฀after฀that฀first฀ year,฀I฀recall฀saying฀to฀myself,฀“This฀kid฀is฀worth฀watching.” ฀ As฀I฀began฀to฀get฀to฀know฀him฀better,฀my฀admiration฀for฀him฀continued ฀to฀elevate.฀I฀discovered฀that฀he฀was฀as฀big-hearted฀off฀the฀field฀ as฀he฀was฀hard-nosed฀on฀it.฀I฀learned฀that฀his฀ability฀to฀tackle฀opponents ฀on฀a฀football฀field฀was฀probably฀a฀direct฀result฀of฀his฀family’s฀ willingness฀to฀tackle฀huge฀odds฀just฀to฀make฀it฀to฀America. ฀ I฀didn’t฀know฀he฀had฀ever฀been฀in฀a฀refugee฀camp฀until฀long฀ after฀we฀had฀been฀to฀training฀camp฀together.฀I฀didn’t฀know฀he฀ was฀the฀first฀Vietnamese฀player฀ever฀to฀make฀it฀in฀the฀NFL฀until฀ after฀I฀had฀realized฀he฀belonged฀in฀the฀NFL. Foreword ✮฀ 11 ฀ But฀every฀time฀I฀watched฀Dat฀Nguyen฀I฀was฀impressed.฀Especially ฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀way฀he฀lived.฀During฀his฀years฀with฀the฀ Cowboys,฀Dat฀has฀made฀plenty฀of฀plays฀and฀earned฀plenty฀of฀ cheers.฀But฀he฀truly฀won฀me฀over฀by฀the฀way฀he฀lived฀his฀life.฀ ฀ Dat฀ was฀ almost฀ always฀ the฀ first฀ player฀ to฀ arrive฀ at฀ Valley฀ Ranch฀every฀morning.฀I฀would฀typically฀pull฀into฀the฀parking฀lot฀ at฀6:45฀a.m.,฀and฀his฀car฀was฀already฀parked฀and฀the฀engine฀was฀ cool.฀Every฀morning,฀he฀would฀arrive฀early,฀grab฀some฀breakfast,฀ and฀go฀to฀the฀whirlpool.฀Then,฀like฀clockwork,฀he฀would฀open฀ his฀Bible฀and฀begin฀studying฀the฀scriptures.฀It฀didn’t฀matter฀if฀he฀ was฀coming฀off฀the฀best฀practice฀of฀his฀life฀or฀the฀worst.฀We฀could฀ have฀won฀our฀last฀game฀or฀lost฀big.฀It฀didn’t฀matter.฀Win฀or฀lose,฀ high฀or฀low,฀Dat฀was฀studying฀his฀scriptures.฀I฀watched฀him.฀Not฀ just฀as฀a฀teammate,฀but฀as฀a฀brother฀in฀Christ. ฀ Honestly,฀I฀was฀inspired฀by฀him.฀Dat฀truly฀has฀no...