What's up with Dat? Vietnam Weekly News (Summer '03)

What's up with Dat
By Bill Palmer - Contributor

For those who don’t know who Dat Nguyen is, here’s the summary; local product who led the Pirates with 188 tackles his senior year which was good enough to earn him a full scholarship to Texas A&M. There, he received numerous accolades throughout his 4 year career (as well as a degree, by the way) and holds school records in several statistical categories.

Despite coming off a stellar collegiate career, many NFL scouts were concerned that Dat's size (5'11", 240) would not be good enough to stand up against todays professional offensive linemen. Most linemen in today's game range in height from 6'2" to 6'6" and weigh in the neighborhood of 315-350 lbs. The Dallas Cowboys decided to take a chance on this undersized college star and picked Dat with the 85^th pick of the 1999 NFL draft. Today, he is the starting middle linebacker for the team and in 2001 led the team with 172 total tackles, the second most in club history. He was preparing for another big season in 2002 when a wrist injury cut short his season. His tenacious style of play and his fierce competitiveness have earned him the respect of all who have had the opportunity to play with him or coach him over the last 4 years. Unfortunately for Dat, his biggest test as a professional may come this season.

In the spring of 2003, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hired former New York Jets coach and two-time Super Bowl winner Bill Parcells to be the new head coach of the team. Although Coach Parcells seems to really like Dat’s productivity, he has made no secret of his questions regarding the use of “smallish” type linebackers like Dat and linebacker Dexter Coakley (5’10”, 236 lbs.). This prompted Coach Parcells to sign Al Singleton (6’2” 230 lbs.) from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the team this spring and draft Bradie James in the 4^th round of this years NFL draft. James will compete for a roster spot while Singleton will play on the other side of Dat at linebacker. Singleton and James (6’2”, 245 lbs) are more “prototypical” linebackers and more of what Parcells is used to having on his defenses.

So once again, Dat’s size has become an issue. His injury from last season will be watched carefully by the current coaching staff for signs. Signs that an “undersized” linebacker, indeed, may not be able to play football at this level. His speed will be scrutinized to make sure he has not gotten slower in an attempt to increase his size. But as with every hurdle Dat has faced in the past, in his personal or athletic life, he has either cleared, run around or simply run through it and come out ahead. This one is tough and it may be challenging, but it's probably unwise to bet against this local hero.