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Foreword
- Texas A&M University Press
- Chapter
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Foreword BY DARREN WOODSON OVER THE YEARS,I’velearnedthatyoudon’tsimply watchDatNguyen.Moreoftenthannot,you’remesmerizedby him. Ibegantorealizethatthefi rsttimeIeverwatchedhimplay. Itwasin1998,andIwasattheDallasCowboys’trainingfacility inValleyRanchpriortothestartofourseason.I’maproud alumofArizonaState,soIwasn’tparticularlyintriguedbythe match-upthatwasonthetelevisionthateveningatourfacility —TexasA&Mvs.FloridaStateinthe1998KickoffClassic. AsIoccasionallyglancedattheTV,however,Icouldn’thelpnoticing thatthelittleguyinthemiddle,No.9,seemedtobemaking aplayeverytimeIlookedup.Suddenly,Iwasfascinatedby hisabilitytomaketacklesfromsidelinetosideline.Hisinstincts weresogoodthathelookedlikehehadstolentheFloridaState gameplan. “Who is that guy?” I asked several of my Cowboys teammates . 10 ✮ Foreword “Wherehaveyoubeen,Woody?”theyreplied.“That’sDat Nguyen.Theguymakesplays.” Honestly,thatwasthefirsttimeIheardhisname.ButasI continuedtowatchthegame,hemadeanimpressiononme. ThenexttimeIheardhisname,itwaspriortothe1999NFL Draft.Atthatpoint,whenhisnamewasmentioned,thewords “too small” usually accompanied his list of accomplishments. Nevertheless,IwasfurtherintriguedwhentheCowboysdecided touseathird-rounddraftpicktoselecthim. ThefirsttimeIsawDatatValleyRanch,Itendedtoagree withtheexpertswhohadlabeledhimas“undersized.”Ithought tomyself,“Ihopethisguyplanstoplaysafety,becausehereally istoosmalltoplaylinebacker.” Onceagain,though,IwasabletowatchDatatour1999training camp,andonceagain,Iwasmesmerized.RookiesintheNFL don’tusuallyhave“it.”Datdid.Heunderstoodthegame;heunderstood anglesandpursuit;heunderstoodhowtomakeplays; andheunderstoodtheamountofworkitwasgoingtotakefor himtomakeitattheNFLlevel.Manyrookiescomeintotheleague withasenseofentitlement.Dat,ontheotherhand,cametohis firsttrainingcampwithasenseofpurpose.Ienjoyedwatching himwork,andIespeciallyadmiredhiscommitmenttoimprove everyday.Heexcelledfirstonspecialteams,andafterthatfirst year,Irecallsayingtomyself,“Thiskidisworthwatching.” AsIbegantogettoknowhimbetter,myadmirationforhimcontinued toelevate.Idiscoveredthathewasasbig-heartedoffthefield ashewashard-nosedonit.Ilearnedthathisabilitytotackleopponents onafootballfieldwasprobablyadirectresultofhisfamily’s willingnesstotacklehugeoddsjusttomakeittoAmerica. Ididn’tknowhehadeverbeeninarefugeecampuntillong afterwehadbeentotrainingcamptogether.Ididn’tknowhe wasthefirstVietnameseplayerevertomakeitintheNFLuntil afterIhadrealizedhebelongedintheNFL. [18.191.234.191] Project MUSE (2024-04-20 02:39 GMT) Foreword ✮ 11 ButeverytimeIwatchedDatNguyenIwasimpressed.Especially intermsofthewayhelived.Duringhisyearswiththe Cowboys,Dathasmadeplentyofplaysandearnedplentyof cheers.Buthetrulywonmeoverbythewayhelivedhislife. Dat was almost always the first player to arrive at Valley Rancheverymorning.Iwouldtypicallypullintotheparkinglot at6:45a.m.,andhiscarwasalreadyparkedandtheenginewas cool.Everymorning,hewouldarriveearly,grabsomebreakfast, andgotothewhirlpool.Then,likeclockwork,hewouldopen hisBibleandbeginstudyingthescriptures.Itdidn’tmatterifhe wascomingoffthebestpracticeofhislifeortheworst.Wecould havewonourlastgameorlostbig.Itdidn’tmatter.Winorlose, highorlow,Datwasstudyinghisscriptures.Iwatchedhim.Not justasateammate,butasabrotherinChrist. Honestly,Iwasinspiredbyhim.Dattrulyhasno...