Dat Nguyen
Dat Nguyen (born on September 25, 1975 in Sài Gòn, South Vietnam) is the first Vietnamese American to play in the National Football League.
Biography
Nguyen has battled the perception that he was too small to play football for as long as he has been involved in the game.
He began proving critics wrong at an early age, and proceeded to leave Texas A&M University, as the Aggies career record holder with 51 consecutive starts, 517 career tackles and a 10.7 tackles-per-game average.
In 1998, he was named an All-American and won the Bednarik Award as well as the Lombardi Award.
Despite such an illustrious collegiate career, the "undersized" criticism was still heard from NFL personnel.
The Cowboys went ahead and drafted the most productive linebacker in Texas A&M history in the third round (85th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft. Nguyen made an impact with the Cowboys from the very beginning, leading the team in special teams stops as a rookie and becoming Dallas' starting middle linebacker in his second professional season.
In 2001, he competed his first full season as a starting NFL middle linebacker and silenced the critics by recording the second highest single-season tackle total in Cowboys history.
Mr. Nguyen and wife Becky added a daughter, Aubrey Mai to their family on June 26, 2004.
In May 2004, Dat Nguyen was awarded a Golden Torch Award at the Vietnamese American National Gala in Washington, D.C.