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1998 Texas A&M Football Preview
Behind Nguyen’s Numbers
•383 career tackles rank Nguyen fourth in school histo
ry. Nguyen is on pace to shatter the school record of
455 tackles, set by former Green Bay Packer Johnny
Holland.
•Nguyen's career tackle-per-game average is 10.6,
tied with Holland for school record.
•Has 22 double-digit tackle games to his credit.
•First player since Ed Simonini to lead A&M in tack
les for three straight seasons.
•Cotton Bowl Defensive MVP against UCLA.
•First-team All-Big 12 selection in 1997.
NGUYEN
5’11”, 221 lbs.
Rockport, IX
Fulton H. S.
Senior-3L
Linebacker
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion
NGUYEN
Continued from Page 10B
“That really helped
everybody understand you
can be different,” Nguyen
said. “Everybody grew to
gether, and i think it helped
the community see that you
don’t need to be a certain
color and judge people
from different races and
colors.”
Nguyen was so good he
started getting scholarship
offers from colleges and was
named Defensive Player of
the Year in his district.
Even though Texas A&M
signed four other lineback
ers in 1994, Nguyen decided
to be an Aggie.
Coming in to A&M,
Nguyen weighed nearly 240
pounds, sat out his true fresh
man year and redshirted. He
thought his weight was keep
ing him from playing and de
cided to lose 20 pounds.
“When I came in, it was
tough. It wasn’t a cakewalk,”
Nguyen said. “I didn’t have
the tools to play right away,
and that opened my mind
that I needed to improve.”
Improve he did. Nguyen
became the first freshman
in A&M history to lead the
team in tackles and earned
Southwest Conference De
fensive Newcomer of the
Year honors.
Nguyen followed up that
season with his best season
to date, earning All-Big 12
honors after racking up 146
tackles and three intercep
tions.
Last year, Nguyen was
named All-Big 12 for the sec
ond year in a row and ended
the season with a spectacu
lar game against UCLA in
which he was named Cotton
Bowl Defensive Most Valu
able Player.
He made 20 tackles in the
game, including a Cotton
Bowl record IS solo tackles.
He even intercepted a Cade
McNown pass, ran 19 yards
and lateralled to junior safe
ty Brandon Jennings, who
ran the final 45 yards for a
touchdown.
Nguyen currently has 383
career tackles and is on pace
to break the A&M record of
455 set by two-time All-
American Johnny Holland.
A&M Football coach R. C.
Slocum said Nguyen may
not be the most talented
player at A&M, but he has
the heart of a lion.
“He’s one heck of a foot
ball player, plain and sim
ple,” Slocum said.
“I think it goes beyond
physical tools. He’s smart,
has great instincts and takes
great pride in what he does.
He plays with such intensi
ty. Dat is one of those guys
that plays every play like it
will be his last.”
Senior linebacker Warrick
Holdman agrees with
Slocum’s assessment.
“He’s not the biggest, but
he has a great heart,” Hold-
man said. “Heart is more
important than talent.”
Even Nguyen’s opponents
have great respect for him.
“He’s as fine a linebacker
as I’ve seen in college foot
ball,” Iowa State coach Dan
McCarney said. “He’s relent
less, has tremendous speed
and quickness. Every coach in
America would love to have
him on his football team.”
“Dat Nguyen was all over
the field. He’s a great football
player and a hard guy to
block,” UCLA coach Bob
Toledo said.
With these accolades and
praises, Nguyen has become
a candidate for the Butkus
Award, which is given to the
nation’s best linebacker.
After the season? Who
knows. Maybe he will be the
first player of Vietnamese de
scent to play in the NFL.
“Just, give me a shot,”
Nguyen said. “But if it does
n’t work out, it doesn’t work
out. You’ve got to hang it up
some time.”
Even if Nguyen does not
make it to the next level, he
said he tries to be a role mod
el for others.
“I would like to think that
not just Asian kids look at me
or Vietnamese kids look at
me, but all different cultures
come up to me and say ‘You’re
a role model’,” Nguyen said.
“Let them [kids] know there is
another way and to stay out of
trouble. I think any kid in the
world would trade [for] where
I’m at.”
RLE PHOTO/Thf. Battalion
The A&M df
ti noles fromr.